tihr<xrp  of  Che  Che^olojical  ^etninar^ 

PRINCETON    .   NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Librajry  of 
Professor  Benjamin  B.  Warfield 

BV    3790    .S7    1895 
Spurgeon,    C.    H.    1834-1892. 
The   soul-winner 


THE   SOUL-WINNER; 

OR, 

HOW    TO    LEAD    SINNERS 
TO    THE    SAVIOUR. 


By  C.    H.  SPURGEON 


'The  salvation  of  oue  soul  is  worth  more  than  the  framing  of  a  Magus 
Charta  of  a  thousand  worlds."— AVi/**. 


FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  TORONTO 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature 


COPYRIGHTED.    1895.  by   FLEMING   H.    REVELL  GO. 


CONTENTS 


Prefatory  Note 

What  is  it  to  Win  a  Soul    . 

Qualifications  for  Soul-Winning— Godward 

Qualifications  for  Soul-Winning— Manward 

Sermons  Likely  to  Win  Souls     . 

Obstacles  to  Soul-Winning 

How  to  Induce  Our  People  to  Win  Souls 

How  to  Raise  the  Dead 

How  to  Win  Souls  for  Christ     . 

The  Cost  of  Being  a  Soul-Winner 

The  Soul-Winner's  Reward 

The  Soul-Winner's  Life  and  Work 

Soul-Winning  Explained 

Soul-Saving  Our  One  Business     . 

Instruction  in  Soul-Winning         , 

Encouragement  to  Soul-Winners 


PAGE 

5 

9 

39 

65 
83 
107 
119 
139 
159 
181 
191 
203 
227 
249 
273 
297 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 

This  volume  is  issued  in  accordance  with  a  plan 
formed  by  Mr.  Spurgeon ;  indeed,  he  had  already  pre- 
pared for  the  press  the  greater  part  of  the  material  here 
published,  and  the  rest  of  his  manuscripts  have  been  in- 
serted after  only  slight  revision.  It  was  his  intention 
to  deliver  to  the  students  of  the  Pastors'  College  a 
short  course  of  Lectures  upon  what  he  termed  "that 
most  royal  employment" — Soul-Winning, — and,  hav- 
ing completed  the  series,  he  purposed  to  collect  his 
previous  utterances  to  other  audiences  upon  the  same 
theme,  and  to  publish  the  whole  for  the  guidance  of 
all  who  desired  to  become  soul-winners,  and  with  the 
hope  also  of  inducing  many  more  professing  Chris- 
tians to  engage  in  this  truly  blessed  service  for  the 
Saviour. 

This  explanation  will  account  for  the  form  in  which 
the  topic  is  treated  in  the  present  book.  The  first  six 
chapters  contain  the  College  Lectures;  then  follow  four 
Addresses  delivered  to  Sunday-school  teachers,  open- 
air  preachers,  and  friends  gathered  at  Monday  evening 
prayer-meetings  at  the  Tabernacle;  while  the  rest  of  the 
volume  consists  of  SerrQons  in  which  the  work  of  win- 
ning souls  is  earnestly  commended  to  the  attention  of 
every  believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

For  more  than  forty  years,  Mr.  Spurgeon  was,  b\' 
his  preaching  and  writing,  one  of  the  greatest  soul- 
winners;  and  by  his  printed  words  still  continues  to  be 
the  means  of  the  conversion  of  many  all  over  the  world. 
It  is  believed,  therefore,  that  thousands  will  rejoice  to 
read  what  he  spoke  and  wrote  concerning  what  he 
called  ''the  chief  business  of  the  Christian  minister." 


^^ 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL? 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL? 


I  purpose,  dear  brethren,  if  God  shall  enable 
me,  to  give  you  a  short  course  of  lectures  under  the 
general  head  of  "THE  SOUL-WINNER."  Soul- 
winning  is  the  chief  business  of  the  Christian  minister; 
indeed,  it  should  be  the  main  pursuit  of  every  true 
believer.  We  should  each  say  with  Simon  Peter,  *T 
go  a  fishing,"  and  with  Paul  our  aim  should  be,  "That 
I  might  by  all  means  save  some." 

We  shall  commence  our  discourses  upon  this  subject 
by  considering  the  question — 

WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL? 

This  may  be  instructively  answered  by  describing 
what  it  is  not.  We  do  not  regard  it  to  be  soul-winning 
to  steal  members  out  of  churches  already  established, 
and  train  them  to  utter  our  peculiar  Shibboleth:  we 
aim  rather  at  bringing  souls  to  Christ  than  at  making 
converts  to  our  synagogue.  There  are  sheep-stealers 
abroad,  concerning  whom  I  will  say  nothing  except 
that  they  are  not  ''brethren",  or,  at  least,  they  do  not 
act  in  a  brotherly  fashion.  To  their  own  Master  they 
must  stand  or  fall.  We  count  it  utter  meanness  to 
build  up  our  own  house  with  the  ruins  of  our  neigh- 
bours' mansions;  we  infinitely  prefer  to  quarry  for 
ourselves.  I  hope  we  all  sympathize  in  the  large- 
hearted  spirit  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  who,  when  it  was  said 


10  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

that  such  and  such  an  effort  would  not  be  beneficial 
to  the  special  interests  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 
although  it  might  promote  the  general  religion  of 
the  land,  said,  "What  is  the^  Free  Church  compared 
with  the  Christian  good  of  the  people  of  Scotland?" 
What,  indeed,  is  any  church,  or  what  are  all  the 
churches  put  together,  as  mere  organizations,  if  they 
stand  in  conflict  with  the  moral  and  spiritual  advantage 
of  the  nation,  or  if  they  impede  the  kingdom  of  Christ? 
It  is  because  God  blesses  men  through  the  churches 
that  we  desire  to  see  them  prosper,  and  not  merely 
for  the  sake  of  the  churches  themselves.  There  is 
such  a  thing  as  selfishness  in  our  eagerness  for  the 
aggrandisement  of  our  owm  party;  and  from  this  evil 
spirit  may  grace  deliver  us!  The  increase  of  the  king- 
dom is  more  to  be  desired  than  the  growth  of  a  clan. 
We  would  do  a  great  deal  to  make  a  Paedo-baptist 
brother  into  a  Baptist,  for  we  value  our  Lord's  ordi- 
nances ;  we  would  labour*  earnestly  to  raise  a  believer 
in  salvation  by  free-will  into  a  believer  in  salvation 
by  grace,  for  we  long  to  see  all  religious  teaching 
built  upon  the  solid  rock  of  truth,  and  not  upon  the 
sand  of  imagination ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  our  grand 
object  is  not  the  revision  of  opinions,  but  the  regenera- 
tion of  natures.  We  would  bring  men  to  Christ,  and 
not  to  our  own  peculiar  views  of  Christianity.  Our 
first  care  must  be  that  the  sheep  should  be  gathered 
,  to  the  great  Shepherd ;  there  will  be  time  enough  after- 
ward to  secure  them  for  our  various  folds.  To  make 
proselytes,  is  a  suitable  labour  for  Pharisees:  to  beget 
men  unto  God,  is  the  honourable  aim  of  ministers 
of  Christ. 

In  the  next  place,  we  do  not  consider  soul-winning 
to  be  accomplished  by  hurriedly  inscribing  more 
names  upon  our  church-roll,  in  order  to  show  a  good 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  11 

increase  at  the  end  of  the  year.  This  is  easily  done, 
and  there  are  brethren  who  use  great  pains,  not  to  say 
arts,  to  effect  it;  but  if  it  be  regarded  as  the  Alpha 
and  Omega  of  a  minister's  efforts,  the  result  will  be 
deplorable.  By  all  means  let  us  bring  true  converts 
into  the  church,  for  it  is  a  part  of  our  work  to  teach 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  Christ  has  com- 
manded them;  but  still,  this  is  to  be  done  to  disciples, 
and  not  to  mere  professors;  and  if  care  be  not  used, 
we  may  do  more  harm  than  good  at  this  point.  To 
introduce  unconverted  persons  to  the  church,  is  to 
weaken  and  degrade  it;  and  therefore  an  apparent 
gain  may  be  a  real  loss.  I  am  not  among  those  who 
decry  statistics,  nor  do  I  consider  that  they  are  pro- 
ductive of  all  manner  of  evil;  for  they  do  much  good 
if  they  are  accurate,  and  if  men  use  them  lawfully.  It  is 
a  good  thing  for  people  to  see  the  nakedness  of  the 
land  through  statistics  of  decrease,  that  they  may  be 
driven  on  their  knees  before  the  Lord  to  seek  prosper- 
ity; and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  by  no  means  an  evil 
thing  for  workers  to  be  encouraged  by  having  some 
account  of  results  set  before  them.  I  should  be  very 
sorry  if  the  practice  of  adding  up,  and  deducting,  and 
giving  in  the  net  result  were  to  be  abandoned,  for  it 
must  be  right  to  know  our  numerical  condition.  It 
has  been  noticed  that  those  who  object  to  the  process 
are  often  brethren  whose  unsatisfactory  reports  should 
somewhat  humiliate  them :  this  is  not  always  so,  but  it 
is  suspiciously  frequent.  I  heard  of  the  report  of  a 
church,  the  other  day,  in  which  the  minister,  who  was 
well  known  to  have  reduced  his  congregation  to  noth- 
ing, somewhat  cleverly  wrote,  "Our  church  is  looking 
up."  When  he  was  questioned  with  regard  to  this 
statement,  he  replied,  "Everybody  knows  that  the 
church  is  on  its  back,  and  it  cannot  do  anything  else 


12  TH4^:  SOUL-WINNER. 

but  look  up."  When  churches  are  looking  up  in  that 
way,  their  pastors  generally  say  that  statistics  are  very 
delusive  things,  and  that  you  cannot  tabulate  the  work 
of  the  Spirit,  and  calculate  the  prosperity  of  a  church 
by  figures.  The  fact  is,  you  can  reckon  very  correctly 
if  the  figures  are  honest,  and  if  all  circumstances  are 
taken  into  consideration:  if  there  is  no  increase,  you 
may  calculate  with  considerable  accuracy  that  there  is 
not  much  being  done;  and  if  there  is  a  clear  decrease 
among  a  growing  population,  you  may  reckon  that  the 
prayers  of  the  people  and  the  preaching  of  the  minister 
are  not  of  the  most  powerful  kind. 

But,  still,  all  hurry  to  get  members  into  the  church 
is  most  mischievous,  both  to  the  church  and  to  the 
supposed  converts.  I  remember  very  well  several 
young  men,  who  were  of  good  moral  character,  and 
religiously  hopeful;  but  instead  of  searching  their 
hearts,  and  aiming  at  their  real  conversion,  the  pastor 
never  gave  them  any  rest  till  he  had  persuaded  them 
to  make  a  profession.  He  thought  that  they  would  be 
under  more  bonds  to  holy  things  if  they  professed 
religion,  and  he  felt  quite  safe  in  pressing  them,  for 
"they  Vv'ere  so  hopeful."  He  imagined  that  to  discour- 
age them  by  vigilant  examination  might  drive  them 
away,  and  so,  to  secure  them,  he  made  them  hypocrites. 
These  ycnmg  men  are,  at  the  present  time,  much  fur- 
ther off  from  the  Church  of  God  than  they  would  have 
been  if  they  had  been  affronted  by  being  kept  in  their 
proper  places,  and  warned  that  they  were  not  con- 
verted to  God.  It  is  a  serious  injury  to  a  person  to 
receive  him  into  the  number  of  the  faithful  unless  there 
is  good  reason  to  believe  that  he  is  really  regenerate. 
I  am  sure  it  is  so,  for  I  speak  after  careful  observation. 
Some  of  the  most  glaring  sinners  known  to  me  were 
once  members  of  a  church ;  and  were,  as  I  believe,  led 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  13 

to  make  a  profession  by  undue  pressure,  well-meant  but 
ill-judged.  Do  not,  therefore,  eonsider  that  soul-win- 
ning is  or  can  be  secured  by  the  multiplication  of  bap- 
tisms, and  the  swelling  of  the  size  of  your  church. 
What  mean  these  despatches  from  the  battle-field? 
"Last  night  fourteen  souls  were  under  conviction,  fif- 
teen were  justified,  and  eight  received  full  sanctifica- 
tion."  I  am  weary  of  this  public  bragging,  this  count- 
ing of  unhatched  chickens,  this  exhibition  of  doubtful 
spoils.  Lay  aside  such  numberings  of  the  people,  such 
idle  pretence  of  certifying  in  half  a  minute  that  which 
will  need  the  testing  of  a  lifetime.  Hope  for  the  best, 
but  in  your  highest  excitements  be  reasonable.  En- 
quiry-rooms are  all  very  well;  but  if  they  lead  to  idle 
boastings,  they  will  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  work 
abounding  evil. 

Nor  is  it  soul-winning,  dear  friends,  merely  to  create 
excitement.  Excitement  will  accompany  every  great 
movement.  We  might  justly  question  whether  the 
movement  w^as  earnest  and  powerful  if  it  was  quite  as 
serene  as  a  drawing-room  Bible-reading.  You  cannot 
very  well  blast  great  rocks  without  the  sound  of  ex- 
plosions, nor  fight  a  battle  and  keep  everybody  as  quiet 
as  a  mouse.  On  a  dry  day,  a  carriage  is  not  moving 
much  along  the  roads  unless  there  is  some  noise  and 
dust;  friction  and  stir  are  the  natural  result  of  force 
in  motion.  So,  when  the  Spirit  of  God  is  abroad,  and 
men's  minds  are  stirred,  there  must  and  will  be  certain 
visible  signs  of  movement,  although  these  must  never 
be  confounded  with  the  movement  itself.  If  people 
imagine  that  to  make  a  dust  is  the  object  aimed  at  by 
the  rolling  of  a  carriage,  they  can  take  a  broom,  and 
very  soon  raise  as  much  dust  as  fifty  coaches;  but  they 
will  be  committing  a  nuisance  rather  than  conferring  a 
benefit.     Excitement  is  as  incidental  as  the  dust,  but 


14  THE  SOUL-WINNER, 

it  is  not  for  one  moment  to  be  aimed  at.  When  the 
woman  swept  her  house,  she  did  it  to  find  her  money, 
and  not  for  the  sake  of  raising  a  cloud. 

Do  not  aim  at  sensation  and  "effect."  Flowing 
tears  and  streaming  eyes,  sobs  and  outcries,  crowded 
after-meetings  and  all  kinds  of  confusion  may  occur, 
and  may  be  borne  with  as  concomitants  of  genuine 
feeling;  but  pray  do  not  plan  their  production. 

It  very  often  happens  that  the  converts  that  are  born 
in  excitement  die  when  the  excitement  is  over.  They 
are  like  certain  insects  which  are  the  product  of  an 
exceedingly  warm  day,  and  die  when  the  sun  goes 
down.  Certain  converts  live  like  salamanders,  in  the 
fire;  but  they  expire  at  a  reasonable  temperature.  I 
delight  not  in  the  religion  which  needs  or  creates  a 
hot  head.  Give  me  the  Godliness  which  flourishes 
upon  Calvary  rather  than  upon  Vesuvius.  The  utmost 
zeal  for  Christ  is  consistent  with  common-sense  and 
reason:  raving,  ranting,  and  fanaticism  are  products 
of  another  zeal  which  is  not  according  to  knowledge. 
We  would  prepare  men  for  the  chamber  of  communion, 
and  not  for  the  padded  room  at  Bedlam.  No  one  is 
more  sorry  than  I  that  such  a  caution  as  this  should 
be  needful;  but  remembering  the  vagaries  of  certain 
wild  revivalists,  I  cannot  say  less,  and  I  might  say  a 
great  deal  more. 

What  is  the  real  winning  of  a  soul  for  God?  So  far 
as  this  is  done  by  instrumentality,  what  are  the  proc- 
esses by  which  a  soul  is  led  to  God  and  to  salvation? 
I  take  it  that  one  of  its  main  operations  consists  in 
mstructing  a  man  that  he  may  know  the  truth  of  God. 
Instruction  by  the  gospel  is  the  commencement  of  all 
real  work  upon  men's  minds.  "Go  ye,  therefore,  and 
teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  teach- 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  15 

ing  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you:  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world."  Teaching  begins  the  work,  and 
crowns  it,  too. 

The  gospel,  according  to  Isaiah,  is,  "Incline  your 
ear,  and  come  unto  Me :  hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live." 
It  is  ours,  then,  to  give  men  something  worth  their 
hearing;  in  fact,  to  instruct  them.  We  are  sent  to 
evangelize,  or  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature; 
and  that  is  not  done  unless  we  teach  them  the  great 
truths  of  revelation.  The  gospel  is  good  news.  To 
listen  to  some  preachers,  you  would  imagine  that  the 
gospel  was  a  pinch  of  sacred  snufif  to  make  them  wako 
up,  or  a  bottle  of  ardent  spirits  to  excite  their  brains. 
It  is  nothing  of  the  kind;  it  is  news,  there  is  informa- 
tion in  it,  there  is  instruction  in  it  concerning  matters 
which  men  need  to  know,  and  statements  in  it  calcu- 
lated to  bless  those  who  hear  it.  It  is  not  a  magical 
incantation,  or  a  charm,  whose  force  consists  in  a  col- 
lection of  sounds;  it  is  a  revelation  of  facts  and  truths 
which  require  knowledge  and  belief.  The  gospel  is  a 
reasonable  system,  and  it  appeals  to  men's  understand- 
ing; it  is  a  matter  for  thought  and  consideration,  and 
it  appeals  to  the  conscience  and  the  reflecting  powers. 
Hence,  if  we  do  not  teach  men  something,  we  may 
shout,  ''Believe!  Believe!  Believe!"  but  what  are  they  to 
believe?  Each  exhortation  requires  a  corresponding 
instruction,  or  it  will  mean  nothing.  "Escape!" 
From  what?  This  requires  for  its  answer  the  doctrine 
of  the  punishment  of  sin.  "Fly!"  But  whither? 
Then  must  you  preach  Christ,  and  His  wounds;  yea, 
and  the  clear  doctrine  of  atonement  by  sacrifice.  "Re- 
pent!" Of  what?  Here  you  must  answer  such  ques- 
tions as,  What  is  sin?  What  is  the  evil  of  sin?  What 
are  the  consequences  of  sin?     "Be  converted!"     But 


16  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

what  is  it  to  be  converted?  By  what  power  can  we  be 
converted?  What  from?  What  to?  The  field  of  in- 
struction is  wide  if  men  are  to  be  made  to  know  the 
truth  which  saves.  "That  the  soul  be  without  knowl- 
edge, it  is  not  good,"  and  it  is  ours  as  the  Lord's  instru- 
ments to  make  men  so  to  know  the  truth  that  they  may 
believe  it,  and  feel  its  power.  We  are  not  to  try  and 
save  men  in  the  dark,  but  in  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  we  are  to  seek  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to 
light. 

And,  do  not  believe,  dear  friends,  that  when  you  go 
into  revival  meetings,  or  special  evangelistic  services, 
you  are  to  leave  out  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel ;  for  you 
ought  then  to  proclaim  the  doctrines  of  grace  rather 
more  than  less.  Teach  gospel  doctrines  clearly,  affec- 
tionately, simply,  and  plainly,  and  especially  those 
truths  which  have  a  present  and  practical  bearing  upon 
man's  condition  and  God's  grace.  Some  enthusiasts 
would  seem  to  have  imbibed  the  notion  that,  as  soon 
as  a  minister  addresses  the  unconverted,  he  should 
deliberately  contradict  his  usual  doctrinal  discourses, 
because  it  is  supposed  that  there  will  be  no  conversions 
if  he  preaches  the  whole  counsel  of  God.  It  just 
comes  to  this,  brethren,  it  is  supposed  that  we  are  to 
conceal  truth,  and  utter  a  half-falsehood,  in  order  to 
save  souls.  We  are  to  speak  the  truth  to  God's  people 
because  they  will  not  hear  anything  else;  but  we  are 
to  wheedle  sinners  into  faith  by  exaggerating  one  part 
of  truth,  and  hiding  the  rest  until  a  more  convenient 
season.  This  is  a  strange  theory,  and  yet  many  en- 
dorse it.  According  to  them,  we  may  preach  the  re- 
demption of  a  chosen  number  of  God's  people,  but 
universal  redemption  must  be  our  doctrine  when  we 
speak  with  the  outside  world;  we  are  to  tell  believers 
that  salvation  is  all  of  grace,  but  sinners  are  to  be 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  17 

spoken  with  as  if  they  were  to  save  themselves;  we  are 
to  inform  Christians  that  God  the  Holy  Spirit  alone 
can  convert,  but  when  we  talk  with  the  unsaved,  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  scarcely  to  be  named.  We  have  not  so 
learned  Christ.  Thus  others  have  done;  let  them  be 
our  beacons,  and  not  our  examples.  He  who  sent  us 
to  win  souls  neither  permits  us  to  invent  falsehoods, 
nor  to  suppress  truth.  His  work  can  be  done  without 
such  suspicious  methods. 

Perhaps  some  of  you  will  reply,  ''But,  still,  God  has 
blessed  half-statements  and  wild  assertions."  Be  not 
quite  so  sure,  I  venture  to  assert  that  God  does  not 
bless  falsehood;  He  may  bless  the  truth  which  is  mixed 
up  with  error ;  but  much  more  of  blessing  would  have 
come  if  the  preaching  had  been  more  in  accordance 
with  His  own  Word.  I  cannot  admit  that  the  Lord 
blesses  evangelistic  Jesuitism,  and  the  suppression  of 
tmth  is  not  too  harshly  named  when  I  so  describe 
it.  The  withholding  of  the  doctrine  of  the  total  de- 
pravity of  man  has  wrought  serious  mischief  to  many 
who  have  listened  to  a  certain  kind  of  preaching. 
These  people  do  not  get  a  true  healing  because  they  do 
not  know  the  disease  under  which  they  are  suffering ; 
they  are  never  truly  clothed  because  nothing  is  done 
towards  stripping  them.  In  many  ministries,  there  is 
not  enough  of  probing  the  heart  and  arousing  the  con- 
science by  the  revelation  of  man's  alienation  from  God, 
and  by  the  declaration  of  the  selfishness  and  the  wicked- 
ness of  such  a  state.  Men  need  to  be  told  that,  except 
divine  grace  shall  bring  them  out  of  their  enmity  to 
God,  they  must  eternally  perish;  and  they  must  be 
reminded  of  the  sovereignty  of  God,  that  He  is  not 
obliged  to  bring  them  out  of  this  state,  that  He  would 
be  right  and  just  if  He  left  them  in  such  a  condition, 
that  they  have  no  merit  to  plead  before  Him,  and  no 


18  Ttm  SOUL-WINNER. 

claims  upon  him,  but  that  if  they  are  to  be  saved,  it 
must  be  by  grace,  and  by  grace  alone.  The  preacher's 
work  is  to  throw  sinners  down  in  utter  helplessness, 
that  they  may  be  compelled  to  look  up  to  Him  who 
alone  can  help  them. 

To  try  to  win  a  soul  for  Christ  by  keeping  that  soul 
in  ignorance  of  any  truth,  is  contrary  to  the  mind  of 
the  Spirit;  and  to  endeavour  to  save  men  by  mere 
claptrap,  or  excitement,  or  oratorical  display,  is  as 
foolish  as  to  hope  to  hold  an  angel  with  bird-lime,  or 
lure  a  star  with  music.  The  best  attraction  is  the 
gospel  in  its  purity.  The  weapon  with  which  the  Lord 
conquers  men  ia  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  The  gospel 
will  be  found  equal  to  every  emergency;  an  arrow 
which  can  pierce  the  hardest  heart,  a  balm  which  will 
heal  the  deadliest  wound.  Preach  it,  and  preach  noth- 
ing else.  Rely  implicitly  upon  the  old,  old  gospel. 
You  need  no  other  nets  when  you  fish  for  men;  those 
your  Master  has  given  you  are  strong  enough  for  the 
great  fishes,  and  have  meshes  fine  enough  to  hold  the 
little  ones.  Spread  these  nets  and  no  others,  and  you 
need  not  fear  the  fulfilment  of  His  Word,  "I  will  make 
you  fishers  of  men." 

Secondly,  to  win  a  soul,  it  is  necessary,  not  only  to 
instruct  our  hearer,  and  make  him  know  the  truth,  but 
U  imfress  him  so  that  he  may  feel  it.  A  purely  didactic 
ministry,  which  should  always  appeal  to  the  under- 
standing, and  should  leave  the  emotions  untouched, 
would  certainly  be  a  limping  ministry.  "The  legs  of 
the  lame  are  not  equal,"  says  Solomon ;  and  the  unequal 
legs  of  some  ministries  cripple  them.  We  have  seen 
such  an  one  limping  about  with  a  long  doctrinal  leg, 
but  a  very  short  emotional  leg.  It  is  a  horrible  thing 
for  a  man  to  be  so  doctrinal  that  he  can  speak  coolly 
of  the  doom  of  the  wicked,  so  that,  if  he  does  not 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  19 

actually  praise  God  for  it,  it  costs  him  no  anguish  of 
heart  to  think  of  the  ruin  of  millions  of  our  race.  This 
is  horrible!  I  hate  to  hear  the  terrors  of  the  Lord 
proclaimed  by  men  whose  hard  visages,  harsh  tones, 
and  unfeeling  spirit  betray  a  sort  of  doctrinal  desicca- 
tion: all  the  milk  of  human  kindness  is  dried  out  of 
them.  Having  no  feeling  himself,  such  a  preacher 
creates  none,  and  the  people  sit  and  listen  while  he 
keeps  to  dry,  lifeless  statements,  until  they  come  to 
value  him  for  being  "sound,"  and  they  themselves  come 
to  be  sound,  too;  and  I  need  not  add,  sound  asleep 
also,  or  what  life  they  have  is  spent  in  sniffing  out 
heresy,  and  making  earnest  men  offenders  for  a  word. 
Into  this  spirit  may  we  never  be  baptized!  Whatever 
I  believe,  or  do  not  believe,  the  command  to  love  my 
neighbour  as  myself  still  retains  its  claim  upon  me,  and 
God  forbid  that  any  views  or  opinions  should  so  con- 
tract my  soul,  and  harden  my  heart  as  to  make  me 
forget  this  law  of  love!  The  love  of  God  is  first,  but 
this  by  no  means  lessens  the  obligation  of  love  to  man ; 
in  fact,  the  first  command  includes  the  second.  We 
are  to  seek  our  neighbour's  conversion  because  we  love 
him,  and  we  are  to  speak  to  him  in  loving  terms  God's 
loving  gospel,  because  our  heart  desires  his  eternal 
good. 

A  sinner  has  a  heart  as  well  as  a  head ;  a  sinner  has 
emotions  as  well  as  thoughts;  and  we  must  appeal  to 
both.  A  sinner  will  never  be  converted  until  his 
emotions  are  stirred.  Unless  he  feels  sorrow  for  sin. 
and  unless  he  has  some  measure  of  joy  in  the  reception 
of  the  Word,  you  cannot  have  much  hope  of  him.  The 
Truth  must  soak  into  the  soul,  and  dye  it  with  its  own 
colour.  The  Word  must  be  like  a  strong  wind  sweep- 
ing through  the  whole  heart,  and  swaying  the  whole 
man,  even  as  a  field  of  ripening  corn  waves  in  tlie 


20  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

summer  breeze.     Religion  without  emotion  is  religion 
without  life. 

But,  still,  we  must  mind  how  these  emotions  are 
caused.  Do  not  play  upon  the  mind  by  exciting  feel- 
ings which  are  not  spiritual.  Some  preachers  are  very 
fond  of  introducing  funerals  and  dying  children  into 
their  discourses,  and  they  make  the  people  weep 
through  sheer  natural  affection.  This  may  lead  up  to 
something  better,  but  in  itself  what  is  its  value?  What 
is  the  good  of  opening  up  a  mother's  griefs  or  a  widow's 
sorrows?  I  do  not  believe  that  our  merciful  Lord  has 
sent  us  to  make  men  weep  over  their  departed  relatives 
by  digging  anew  their  graves,  and  rehearsing  past 
scenes  of  bereavement  and  woe.  Why  should  He? 
It  is  granted  that  you  may  profitably  employ  the  death- 
bed of  a  departed  Christian,  or  of  a  dying  sinner,  for 
proof  of  the  rest  of  faith  in  the  one  case,  and  the  terror 
of  conscience  in  the  other;  but  it  is  out  of  the  fact 
proved,  and  not  out  of  the  illustration  itself,  that  the 
good  must  arise.  Natural  grief  is  of  no  service  in  itself; 
indeed,  we  look  upon  it  as  a  distraction  from  higher 
thoughts,  and  as  a  price  too  great  to  exact  from  tender 
hearts,  unless  we  can  repay  them  by  engrafting  lasting 
spiritual  impressions  upon  the  stock  of  natural  affec- 
tion. "It  W2is  a  very  splendid  oration,  full  of  pathos," 
says  one  who  heard  it.  Yes,  but  what  is  the  practical 
outcome  of  this  pathos?  A  young  preacher  once  re- 
marked, "Were  you  not  greatly  struck  to  see  so  large 
a  congregation  weeping?"  "Yes,"  said  his  judicious 
friend,  "but  I  was  more  struck  with  the  reflection  that 
they  would  probably  have  wept  more  at  a  play."  Ex- 
actly so;  and  the  weeping  in  both  cases  may  be  equally 
valueless.  I  saw  a  girl  on  board  of  a  steamboat  read- 
ing a  book,  and  crying  as  if  her  heart  would  break ;  but 
when  I  glanced  at  the  volume,  I  saw  that  it  was  only 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  21 

one  of  those  silly  yellow-covered  novels  which  load  our 
railway  bookstalls.  Her  tears  were  a  sheer  waste  of 
moisture,  and  so  are  those  which  are  produced  by  mere 
pulpit  tale-telling  and  death-bed  painting. 

If  our  hearers  will  weep  over  their  sins,  and  after 
Jesus,  let  their  tears  flow  in  rivers;  but  if  the  object  of 
their  sorrow  is  merely  natural,  and  not  at  all  spiritual, 
what  good  is  done  by  setting  them  weeping?  There 
might  be  some  virtue  in  making  people  joyful,  for 
there  is  sorrow  enough  in  the  world,  and  the  more  we 
can  promote  cheerfulness,  the  better;  but  what  is  tlie 
use  of  creating  needless  misery?  What  right  have  you 
to  go  through  the  world  pricking  everybody  with  your 
lancet  just  to  show  your  skill  in  surgery?  A  true 
physician  only  makes  incisions  in  order  to  effect  cures, 
and  a  wise  minister  only  excites  painful  emotions  in 
men's  minds  with  the  distinct  object  of  blessing  their 
souls.  You  and  I  must  continue  to  drive  at  men's 
hearts  till  they  are  broken;  and  then  we  must  keep  on 
preaching  Christ  crucified  till  their  hearts  are  bound  up ; 
and  when  this  is  accomplished,  we  must  continue  to 
proclaim  the  gospel  till  their  whole  nature  is  brought 
into  subjection  to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Even  in  these 
preliminaries  you  will  be  made  to  feel  the  need  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  work  with  you,  and  by  you;  but  this 
need  will  be  still  more  evident  when  we  advance  a  step 
further,  and  speak  of  the  new  birth  itself  in  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  works  in  a  style  and  manner  most  divine. 

I  have  already  insisted  upon  instruction  and  impres- 
sion as  most  needful  to  soul-winning;  but  these  are  not 
all — they  are,  indeed,  only  means  to  the  desired  end. 
A  far  greater  work  must  be  done  before  a  man  is 
saved.  A  wonder  of  divine  grace  must  be  wrough"^ 
upon  the  soul,  fcr  transcending  anything  which  can  be 
accomplished  by  the  power  of  man.     Of  all  whom  we 


22  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

would  fain  win  for  Jesus  it  is  true,  ''Except  a  man  be 
born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  The 
Holy  Ghost  must  work  regeneration  in  the  objects  of 
our  love,  or  they  never  can  become  possessors  of  eternal 
happiness.  They  must  be  quickened  into  a  new  life, 
and  they  must  become  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus. 
The  same  energy  which  accomplishes  resurrection  and 
creation  must  put  forth  all  its  power  upon  them ;  noth- 
ing short  of  this  can  meet  the  case.  They  must  be 
born  again  from  above.  This  might  seem  at  first  sight 
to  put  human  instrumentality  altogether  out  of  the 
'field ;  but  on  turning  to  the  Scriptures  we  find  nothing 
to  justify  such  an  inference,  and  much  of  quite  an  op- 
posite tendency.  There  we  certainly  find  the  Lord  to 
be  all  in  all,  but  we  find  no  hint  that  the  use  of  means 
must  therefore  be  dispensed  with.  The  Lord's  supreme 
majesty  and  power  are  seen  all  the  more  gloriously 
because  He  works  by  means.  He  is  so  great  that  He 
is  not  afraid  to  put  honour  upon  the  instruments  He 
employs,  by  speaking  of  them  in  high  terms,  and 
imputing  to  them  great  influence.  It  is  sadly  possible 
to  say  too  little  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  indeed,  I  fear  this 
is  one  of  the  crying  sins  of  the  age;  but  yet  that  infal- 
lible Word,  which  always  rightly  balances  truth,  while 
it  magnifies  the  Holy  Ghost,  does  not  speak  lightly  of 
the  men  by  whom  He  works.  God  does  not  think  his 
own  honour  to  be  so  questionable  that  it  can  only  be 
maintained  by  decr\'ing  the  human  agent.  There  are 
two  passages  in  the  Epistles  which,  when  put  together, 
have  often  amazed  me.  Paul  compares  himself  both  to 
a  father  and  to  a  mother  in  the  matter  of  the  new  birth : 
lie  says  of  one  convert,  "Whom  I  have  begotten  in  my 
bonds,"  and  of  a  whole  church  he  says,  "My  little  chil- 
dren, of  whom  I  travail  in  birth  again  until  Christ  be 
formed  in  you."    This  is  going  very  far;  indeed,  much 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  23 

further  than  modern  orthodoxy  would  permit  the  most 
useful  minister  to  venture,  and  yet  it  is  language  sanc- 
tioned, yea,  dictated,  by  the  Spirit  of  God  Himself,  and 
therefore  it  is  not  to  be  criticised.  Such  mysterious 
power  doth  God  infuse  into  the  instrumentality  which 
He  ordains  that  we  are  called  "labourers  together  with 
God";  and  this  is  at  once  the  source  of  our  responsi- 
bility and  the  ground  of  our  hope. 

Regeneration,  or  the  new  birth,  works  a  change  in  the 
whole  nature  of  man,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  judge, 
its  essence  lies  in  the  implantation  and  creation  of  a 
new  principle  within  the  man.  The  Holy  Ghost  creates 
in  us  a  new,  heavenly,  and  immortal  nature,  which  is 
known  in  Scripture  as  "the  spirit,"  by  way  of  distinc- 
tion from  the  soul.  Our  theory  of  regeneration  is  that, 
man  in  his  fallen  nature  consists  only  of  body  and  soul, 
and  that  when  he  is  regenerated  there  is  created  in 
him  a  new  and  higher  nature — "the  spirit" — which  is 
a  spark  from  the  everlasting  fire  of  God's  life  and  love; 
this  falls  into  the  heart,  and  abides  there,  and  makes  its 
receiver  "a  partaker  of  the  divine  nature."  Thence- 
forward, the  man  consists  of  three  parts,  body,  soul, 
and  spirit,  and  the  spirit  is  the  reigning  power  of  the 
three.  You  will  all  remember  that  memorable  chapter 
upon  the  resurrection,  i  Corinthians  xv.,  where  the  dis- 
tinction is  well  brought  out  in  the  original,  and  may 
even  be  perceived  in  our  version.  The  passage  ren- 
dered, "It  is  sown  a  natural  body,"  etc.,  might  be  read, 
"It  is  sown  a  soulish  body;  it  is  raised  a  spiritual 
body.  There  is  a  soulish  body,  and  there  is  a  spiritual 
body.  And  so  it  is  written.  The  first  man  Adam  was 
made  a  living  soul;  the  last  Adam  was  made  a  quicken- 
ing spirit.  Howbeit,  that  was  not  first  which  is 
spiritual,  but  that  which  is  soulish;  and  afterward  that 
which  is  spiritual."     We  are  first  in  the  natural  or  soul- 


24  THE  SOUL-WINMER. 

ish  stage  of  being,  like  the  first  Adam,  and  then  in 
regeneration  we  enter  into  a  new  condition,  and  we 
become  possessors  of  the  life-giving  "spirit."  Without 
this  spirit,  no  man  can  see  or  enter  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  It  must  therefore  be  our  intense  desire  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  should  visit  our  hearers,  and  create 
them  anew, — that  he  Vvould  come  down  on  these  dry 
bones,  and  breathe  eternal  life  into  the  dead  in  sin. 
Till  this  is  done,  they  can  never  receive  the  truth,  "for 
the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit 
of  God :  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him :  neither  can 
he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned." 
''The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God:  for  it  is  not 
subject  to  the  law  of  God,  .neither  indeed  can  be."  A 
new  and  heavenly  mind  must  be  created  by  omnipo- 
tence, or  the  man  must  abide  in  death.  You  see,  then, 
that  we  have  before  us  a  mighty  work,  for  which  w^e  are 
of  ourselves  totally  incapable.  No  minister  living  can 
save  a  soul;  nor  can  all  of  us  together,  nor  all  the 
saints  on  earth  or  in  heaven,  w-ork  regeneration  in  a 
single  person.  The  whole  business  on  our  part  is  the 
height  of  absurdity  unless  w^e  regard  ourselves  as  used 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  filled  with  His  power.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  marvels  of  regeneration  which  attend 
our  ministry  are  the  best  seals  and  witnesses  of  our 
commission.  Whereas  the  apostles  could  appeal  to 
the  miracles  of  Christ,  and  to  those  w^hich  they  wrought 
in  His  name,  we  appeal  to  the  miracles  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  which  are  as  divine  and  as  real  as  those  of  our 
Lord  Himself.  These  miracles  are  the  creation  of  a 
new  life  in  the  human  bosom,  and  the  total  change  of 
the  whole  being  of  those  upon  whom  the  Spirit 
descends. 

As  this  God-begotten  spiritual  life  in  men  is  a  mys- 
tery, we  shall  speak  to  more  practical  effect  if  we  dwell 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  25 

upon  the  signs  following  and  accompanying  it,  for  these 
are  the  things  we  must  aim  at.  First,  regeneration  will 
be  shown  in  conviction  of  sin.  This  we  believe  to  be 
an  indispensable  mark  of  the  Spirit's  work;  the  new 
life  as  it  enters  the  heart  causes  intense  inward  pain  as 
one  of  its  first  effects.  Though  nowadays  w^e  hear  of 
persons  being  healed  before  they  have  been  wounded, 
and  brought  into  a  certainty  of  justification  without 
ever  having  lamented  their  condemnation,  we  are  very 
dubious  as  to  the  value  of  such  healings  and  justify- 
ings.  This  style  of  things  is  not  according  to  the  truth. 
God  never  clothes  men  until  He  has  first  stripped  them, 
nor  does  He  quicken  them  by  the  gospel  till  first  they 
are  slain  by  the  law.  When  you  meet  with  persons  in 
whom  there  is  no  trace  of  conviction  of  sin,  you  may  be 
quite  sure  that  they  have  not  been  wrought  upon  by 
the  Holy  Spirit ;  for  "when  He  is  come.  He  will  reprove 
the  world  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of  judg- 
ment." When  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  breathes  on 
us,  He  withers  all  the  glory  of  man,  which  is  but  as  the 
flower  of  grass,  and  then  He  reveals  a  higher  and 
abiding  glory.  Do  not  be  astonished  if  you  find  this 
conviction  of  sin  to  be  very  acute  and  alarming;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  do  not  condemn  those  in  whom  it  is 
less  intense,  for  so  long  as  sin  is  mourned  over,  con- 
fessed, forsaken,  and  abhorred,  you  have  an  evident 
fruit  of  the  Spirit.  Much  of  the  horror  and  unbelief 
which  goes  with  conviction  is  not  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
but  comes  of  Satan  or  corrupt  nature;  yet  there  must 
be  true  and  deep  conviction  of  sin,  and  this  the  preacher 
must  labour  to  produce,  for  where  this  is  not  felt  the 
new  birth  has  not  taken  place. 

Equally  certain  is  it  that  true  conversion  may  be 
kno\vn  by  the  exhibition  of  a  simple  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ.  You  need  not  that  I  speak  unto  you  of  that,  for 


26  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

you  yourselves  are  fully  persuaded  of  it.  The  pro- 
duction of  faith  is  the  very  centre  of  the  target  at  which 
you  aim.  The  proof  to  you  that  you  have  won  the 
man's  soul  for  Jesus  is  never  before  you  till  he  has  done 
with  himself  and  his  own  merits,  and  has  closed  in  with 
Christ.  Great  care  must  be  taken  that  this  faith  is 
exercised  upon  Christ  for  a  complete  salvation,  and  not 
for  a  part  of  it.  Numbers  of  persons  think  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  is  available  for  the  pardon  of  past  sin,  but 
they  cannot  trust  Him  for  their  preservation  in  the 
future.  They  trust  for  years  past,  but  not  for  years  to 
come ;  whereas  no  such  sub-division  of  salvation  is  ever 
spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  the  work  of  Christ.  Either 
He  bore  all  our  sins,  or  none;  and  He  either  saves  us 
once  for  all,  or  not  at  all.  His  death  can  never  be  re- 
peated, and  it  must  have  made  expiation  for  the  future 
sin  of  believers,  or  they  are  lost,  since  no  further  atone- 
ment can  be  supposed,  and  future  sin  is  certain  to  be 
committed.  Blessed  be  His  name,  "by  Him  all  that 
believe  are  justified  from  all  things."  Salvation  by 
grace  is  eternal  salvation.  Sinners  must  commit  their 
souls  to  the  keeping  of  Christ  to  all  eternity;  how  else 
are  they  saved  men?  Alas!  according  to  the  teaching 
of  some,  believers  are  only  saved  in  part,  and  for  the 
rest  must  depend  upon  their  future  endeavours.  Is 
this  the  gospel?  I  trow  not.  Genuine  faith  trusts  a 
whole  Christ  for  the  whole  of  salvation.  Is  it  any  won- 
der that  many  converts  fall  away,  when,  in  fact,  they 
were  never  taught  to  exercise  faith  in  Jesus  for  eternal 
salvation,  but  only  for  temporar\^  conversion?  A  faulty 
exhibition  of  Christ  begets  a  faulty  faith;  and  when 
this  pines  away  in  its  own  imbecility,  who  is  to  blame  for 
it?  According  to  their  faith  so  it  is  unto  them:  the 
preacher  and  professor  of  a  partial  faith  must  unitedly 
bear  the  blame  of  the  failure  when  their  poor  mutilated 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  27 

trust  comes  to  a  break-down.  I  would  the  more  earn- 
estly insist  upon  this  because  a  semi-legal  way  of  believ- 
ing is  so  common.  We  must  urge  the  trembling  sinner 
to  trust  wholly  and  alone  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  for  ever, 
or  we  shall  have  him  inferring  that  he  is  to  begin  in  the 
Spirit  and  be  made  perfect  by  the  flesh :  he  will  surely 
walk  by  faith  as  to  the  past,  and  then  by  works  as  to  the 
future,  and  this  will  be  fatal.  True  faith  in  Jesus 
receives  eternal  life,  and  sees  perfect  salvation  in  Him, 
whose  one  sacrifice  hath  sanctified  the  people  of  God 
once  for  all.  The  sense  of  being  saved,  completely 
saved  in  Christ  Jesus,  is  not,  as  some  suppose,  the 
source  of  carnal  security  and  the  enemy  of  holy  zeal, 
but  the  very  reverse.  Delivered  from  the  fear  which 
makes  the  salvation  of  self  a  more  immediate  object 
than  salvation /;'(W/ self,  and  inspired  by  holy  gratitude 
to  his  Redeemer,  the  regenerated  man  becomes  capable 
of  virtue,  and  is  filled  with  an  enthusiasm  for  God's 
glory.  While  trembling  under  a  sense  of  insecurity, 
a  man  gives  his  chief  thought  to  his  owu  interests;  but 
planted  firmly  on  the  Rock  of  ages,  he  has  time  and 
heart  to  utter  the  new  song  which  the  Lord  has  put 
into  his  mouth,  and  then  is  his  moral  salvation  com- 
plete, for  self  is  no  longer  the  lord  of  his  being.  Rest 
not  content  till  you  see  clear  evidence  in  your  converts 
of  a  simple,  sincere,  and  decided  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Together  with  undivided  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  there 
must  also  be  uiifcigned  rcpcfitance  of  sin.  Repentance 
is  an  old-fashioned  word,  not  much  used  by  modern 
revivalists.  "Oh!"'  said  a  minister  to  me,  one  day, 
"it  only  means  a  change  of  mind."  This  was  thought 
to  be  a  profound  observation.  "Only  a  change  of 
mind";  but  what  a  change!  A  change  of  mind  with 
regard  to  everything!  Instead  of  saying,  *Tt  is  only  a 
change  of  mind,"  it  seems  to  me  more  truthful  to  say 


28  THtrSOUL-WINNER. 

it  is  a  great  and  deep  change — even  a  change  of  the 
mind  itself.  But  whatever  the  literal  Greek  word  may 
mean,  repentance  is  no  trifle.  You  will  not  find  a 
better  definition  of  it  than  the  one  given  in  the  children's 
hymn : — 


'Repentance  is  to  leave 

The  sins  we  loved  before; 

And  show  that  we  in  earnest  grieve, 
By  doing  so  no  more." 


True  conversion  is  in  all  men  attended  by  a  sense  of 
sin,  which  we  have  spoken  of  under  the  head  of  convic- 
tion ;  by  a  sorrow  for  sin,  or  holy  grief  at  having  com- 
mitted it;  by  a  hatred  of  sin,  which  proves  that  its 
dominion  is  ended;  and  by  a  practical  turning  from 
sin,  which  shows  that  the  life  within  the  soul  is  operating 
upon  the  life  without.  True  belief  and  true  repentance 
arc  twins:  it  would  be  fdle  to  attempt  to  say  which  is 
born  first.  All  the  spokes  of  a  wheel  move  at  once 
when  the  wheel  moves,  and  so  all  the  graces  commence 
action  when  regeneration  is  wrought  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Repentance,  however,  there  must  be.  No  sin- 
ner looks  to  the  Saviour  with  a  dry  eye  or  a  hard  heart. 
Aim,  therefore,  at  heart-breaking,  at  bringing  home 
condemnation  to  the  conscience,  and  weaning  the  mind 
from  sin,  and  be  not  content  till  the  whole  mind  is 
deeply  and  vitally  changed  in  reference  to  sin. 

Another  proof  of  the  conquest  of  a  soul  for  Christ 
will  be  found  in  a  real  change  of  life.  If  the  man  does 
not  live  differently  from  what  he  did  before,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  his  repentance  needs  to  be  repented 
of,  and  his  conversion  is  a  fiction.  Not  only  action 
and  language,  but  spirit  and  temper  must  be  changed. 
"But,"   says   someone,   "grace   is   often   grafted   on   a 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  29 

crab-Stock."  I  know  it  is;  but  what  is  the  fruit  of  the 
grafting?  The  fruit  will  be  like  the  graft,  and  not  after 
the  nature  of  the  original  stem.  "But,"  says  another, 
"I  have  an  awful  temper,  and  all  of  a  sudden  it  over- 
comes me.  My  anger  is  soon  over,  and  I  feel  very 
penitent.  Though  I  cannot  control  myself,  I  am  quite 
sure  I  am  a  Christian."  Not  so  fast,  my  friend,  or  I 
may  answer  that  I  am  quite  as  sure  the  other  way. 
What  is  the  use  of  your  soon  cooling  if  in  two  or  three 
moments  you  scald  all  around  you?  If  a  man  stabs 
me  in  a  fury,  it  will  not  heal  my  wound  to  see  him 
grieving  over  his  madness.  Hasty  temper  must  be 
conquered,  and  the  whole  man  must  be  renewed,  or  con- 
version will  be  questionable.  We  are  not  to  hold  up 
a  modified  holiness  before  our  people,  and  say.  You 
will  be  all  right  if  you  reach  that  standard.  The 
Scripture  says,  "He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil." 
Abiding  under  the  power  of  any  known  sin  is  a  mark  of 
our  being  the  servants  of  sin,  for  "his  servants  ye  are  to 
whom  ye  obey."  Idle  are  the  boasts  of  a  man  who 
harbours  within  himself  the  love  of  any  transgression. 
He  may  feel  what  he  likes,  and  believe  what  he  likes, 
he  is  still  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  the  bonds  of 
iniquity  wliile  a  single  sin  rules  his  heart  and  life.  True 
regeneration  implants  a  hatred  of  all  evil;  and  where 
one  sin  is  delighted  in,  the  evidence  is  fatal  to  a  sound 
hope.  A  man  need  not  take  a  dozen  poisons  to  destroy 
his  life,  one  is  quite  sufificient. 

There  must  be  a  harmony  between  the  life  and  the 
profession.  A  Christian  professes  to  renounce  sin; 
and  if  he  does  not  do  so,  his  very  name  is  an  imposture. 
A  drunken  man  came  up  to  Rowland  Hill,  one  day. 
and  said,  "I  am  one  of  your  converts,  Mr.  Hill."  'T 
daresay  you  are,"  replied  that  shrewd  and  sensible 
preacher;   "but  vou  are  none  of  the  Lord's,  or  you 


30  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

would  not  be  drunk."  To  this  practical  test  we  must 
bring  all  our  work. 

In  our  converts  we  must  also  see  iiue  prayer,  which 
is  the  vital  breath  of  godliness.  If  there  is  no  prayer, 
you  may  be  quite  sure  the  soul  is  dead.  We  are  not 
to  urge  men  to  pray  as  though  it  were  the  great  gospel 
duty,  and  the  one  prescribed  way  of  salvation;  for  our 
chief  message  is,  "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
It  is  easy  to  put  prayer  into  its  wrong  place,  and  make 
it  out  to  be  a  kind  of  work  by  which  men  are  to  live ;  but 
this  you  will,  I  trust,  most  carefully  avoid.  Faith  is 
the  great  gospel  grace ;  but  still  we  cannot  forget  that 
true  faith  always  prays,  and  when  a  man  professes  faith 
in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  yet  does  not  cry  to  the  Lord 
daily,  we  dare  not  believe  in  his  faith  or  his  conversion. 
The  Holy  Ghost's  evidence  by  which  He  convinced 
Ananias  of  Paul's  conversion  was  not,  "Behold,  he  talks 
loudly  of  his  joys  and  feelings,"  but,  "Behold,  he  pray- 
eth,"  and  that  prayer  was  earnest,  heart-broken  con- 
fession and  supplication.  Oh,  to  see  this  sure  evidence 
in  all  who  profess  to  be  our  converts! 

There  must  also  be  a  willingness  to  obey  the  Lord 
in  all  His  commandments.  It  is  a  shameful  thing  for  a 
man  to  profess  discipleship  and  yet  refuse  to  learn  his 
Lord's  will  upon  certain  points,  or  even  dare  to  decline 
obedience  when  that  will  is  known.  How  can  a  man  be 
a  disciple  of  Christ  when  he  openly  lives  in  disobedi- 
ence to  Him? 

If  the  professed  convert  distinctly  and  deliberately 
declares  that  he  knows  his  Lord's  will  but  does  not 
mean  to  attend  to  it,  you  are  not  to  pamper  his  pre- 
sumption, but  it  is  your  duty  to  assure  him  that  he  is 
not  saved.  Has  not  the  Lord  said,  "He  that  taketh  not 
up  his  cross,  and  cometh  after  Me,  cannot  be  My 
disciple"?    Mistakes  as  to  what  the  Lord's  will  may 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  31 

be  are  to  be  tenderly  corrected,  but  anything  like  wilful 
disobedience  is  fatal ;  to  tolerate  it  would  be  treason  to 
Him  that  sent  us.  Jesus  must  be  received  as  King  as 
well  as  Priest;  and  where  there  is  any  hesitancy  about 
this,  the  foundation  of  godliness  is  not  yet  laid. 

"Faith  must  obey  her  Maker's  will 
As  well  as  trust  His  grace; 
A  pardoning  God  is  jealous  still 
For  His  own  holiness." 

Thus,  you  see,  my  brethren,  the  signs  which  prove 
that  a  soul  is  won  are  by  no  means  trifling,  and  the  work 
to  be  done  ere  those  signs  can  exist  is  not  to  be  lightly 
spoken  of.  A  soul-winner  can  do  nothing  without 
God.  He  must  cast  himself  on  the  Invisible,  or  be  a 
laughing-stock  to  the  devil,  who  regards  with  utter 
disdain  all  who  think  to  subdue  human  nature  with 
mere  words  and  arguments.  To  all  who  hope  to  suc- 
ceed in  such  a  labour  by  their  own  strength,  we  would 
address  the  words  of  the  Lord  to  Job,  "Canst  thou 
draw  out  leviathan  with  a  hook?  or  his  tongue  with  a 
cord  which  thou  lettest  down?  Wilt  thou  play  with 
him  as  with  a  bird?  or  wilt  thou  bind  him  for  thy 
maidens?  Lay  thine  hand  upon  him,  remember  the 
battle,  do  no  m.ore.  Behold,  the  hope  of  him  is  in 
vain:  shall  not  one  be  cast  down  even  at  the  sight  of 
him?"  Dependence  upon  God  is  our  strength,  and  our 
joy:  in  that  dependence  let  us  go  forth,  and  seek  to  win 
souls  for  Him. 

Now,  in  the  course  of  our  ministry,  we  shall  meet 
with  many  failures  in  this  matter  of  soul-winning. 
There  are  many  birds  that  I  have  thought  I  had  caught; 
I  have  even  managed  to  put  salt  on  their  tails,  but  they 
have  gone  flying  off  after  all.     I  remember  one  man, 


32  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

whom  I  will  call  Tom  Careless.  He  was  the  terror  of 
the  village  in  which  he  lived.  There  were  many  in- 
cendiary fires  in  the  region,  and  most  people  attributed 
them  to  him.  Sometimes,  he  would  be  drunk  for  two 
or  three  weeks  at  a  spell,  and  then  he  raved  and  raged 
like  a  madman.  That  man  came  to  hear  me;  I  recol- 
lect the  sensation  that  went  through  the  little  chapel 
when  he  came  in.  He  sat  there,  and  fell  in  love  with 
me;  I  think  that  was  the  only  conversion  that  he  ex- 
perienced, but  he  professed  to  be  converted.  He  had, 
apparently,  been  the  subject  of  genuine  repentance,  and 
he  became  outwardly  quite  a  changed  character,  gave 
up  his  drinking  and  swearing,  and  was  in  many  respects 
an  exemplary  individual.  I  remember  seeing  him  tug- 
ging a  barge,  with  perhaps  a  hundred  people  on  board, 
whom  he  was  drawing  up  to  a  place  where  I  was  going 
to  preach ;  and  he  was  glorying  in  the  work,  and  sing- 
ing as  gladly  and  happily  as  any  one  of  them.  If 
anybody  spoke  a  word  against  the  Lord  or  His  servant, 
he  did  not  hesitate  a  moment,  but  knocked  him  over. 
Before  I  left  the  district,  I  was  afraid  that  there  was  no 
real  work  of  grace  in  him;  he  was  a  wild  Red  Indian 
sort  of  a  man.  I  have  heard  of  him  taking  a  bird, 
plucking  it,  and  eating  it  raw  in  the  field.  This  is  not 
the  act  of  a  Christian  man,  it  is  not  one  of  the  things 
that  are  comely,  and  of  good  repute.  After  I  left  the 
neighbourhood,  I  asked  after  him,  and  I  could  hear 
nothing  good  of  him;  the  spirit  that  kept  him  out- 
wardly right  was  gone,  and  he  became  worse  than  he 
was  before,  if  that  was  possible;  certainly,  he  was  no 
better,  he  was  unreachable  by  any  agency.  That  work 
of  mine  did  not  stand  the  fire;  it  would  not  bear  even 
ordinary  temptation,  you  see,  after  the  person  who  had 
influence  over  the  man  was  gone  away.  When  you 
move  from  the  village  or  town  where  you  have  been 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  33 

preaching,  it  is  very  likely  that  some,  who  did  run 
well,  will  go  back.  They  have  an  affection  for  yon, 
and  your  words  have  a  kind  of  mesmeric  influence 
over  them ;  and  when  you  are  gone,  the  dog  will  run 
to  his  vomit,  and  the  sow  that  was  washed  to  her  wal- 
lowing in  the  mire.  Do  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  count 
these  supposed  converts;  do  not  take  them  into  the 
church  too  soon;  do  not  be  too  proud  of  their  enthu- 
siasm if  it  is  not  accompanied  with  some  degree  of 
softening  and  tenderness  to  show  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
has  really  been  at  work  within  them. 

I  remember  another  case  of  quite  a  different  sort. 
I  will  call  this  person  ]\Iiss  ^lary  Shallow,  for  she 
was  a  young  lady  who  was  never  blessed  with  many 
brains;  but  living  in  the  same  house  with  several 
Christian  young  ladies  she  also  professed  to  be  con- 
verted. When  I  conversed  with  her,  there  was  ap- 
parently everything  that  one  could  wish  for.  I 
thought  of  proposing  her  to  the  church;  but  it  was 
judged  best  to  give  her  a  little  trial  first.  After  a 
while,  she  left  the  associations  of  the  place  where  she 
had  lived,  and  went  where  she  had  nothing  much  to 
help  her;  and  I  never  heard  anything  more  of  her 
except  that  her  whole  time  was  spent  in  dressing  her- 
self as  smartly  as  she  could,  and  in  frequenting  gay 
society.  She  is  a  type  of  those  who  have  not  much 
mental  furniture;  and  if  the  grace  of  God  does  not 
take  possession  of  the  empty  space,  they  very  soon  go 
back  into  the  w^orld. 

I  have  known  several  like  a  young  man  whom  I 
will  call  Charlie  Clever,  uncommonly  clever  young  fel- 
lows at  anything  and  everything,  very  clever  at  coun- 
terfeiting religion  when  they  took  up  with  it.  They 
prayed  very  fluently;  they  tried  to  preach,  and  did  it 
verv  well;   whatever  thev  did,  thev  did  it  off-hand,  it 


34  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

was  as  easy  to  them  as  kissing  their  hand.  Do  not 
be  in  a  hurry  to  take  such  people  into  the  church; 
they  have  known  no  humihation  on  account  of  sin,  no 
brokenness  of  heart,  no  sense  of  divine  grace.  They 
cry,  "All  serene!"  and  away  they  go;  but  you  will 
find  that  they  will  never  repay  you  for  your  labour  and 
trouble.  They  will  be  able  to  use  the  language  of 
God's  people  as  well  as  the  best  of  His  saints,  they 
will  even  talk  of  their  doubts  and  fears,  and  they  will 
get  up  a  deep  experience  in  five  minutes.  They  are  a 
little  too  clever,  and  they  are  calculated  to  do  much 
mischief  when  they  get  into  the  church;  so  keep  them 
out  if  you  possibly  can. 

I  remember  one  who  was  very  saintly  in  his  talk,  I 
will  call  him  John  Fairspeech.  Oh!  how  cunningly 
he  could  act  the  hypocrite,  getting  among  our  young 
men,  and  leading  them  into  all  manner  of  sin  and 
iniquity,  and  yet  he  would  call  and  see  me,  and  have 
half-an-hour's  spiritual  conversation!  An  abominable 
wretch,  who  was  living  in  open  sin  at  the  ver}^  time 
that  he  was  seeking  to  come  to  the  Lord's  table,  and 
joining  our  societies,  and  anxious  to  be  a  leading  man 
in  every  good  work.  Keep  your  weather  eye  open, 
brethren!  They  will  come  to  you  with  money  in  their 
hands  like  Peter's  fish  with  the  silver  in  its  mouth; 
and  they  will  be  so  helpful  in  the  work.  They  speak 
so  softly,  and  they  are  such  perfect  gentlemen!  Yes, 
I  beUeve  Judas  was  a  man  exactly  of  that  kind,  very 
clever  at  deceiving  those  around  him.  We  must  mind 
that  we  do  not  get  any  of  these  into  the  church  if  we 
can  anyhow  keep  them  out.  You  may  say  to  your- 
self, at  the  close  of  the  service,  "Here  is  a  splendid 
haul  of  fish!"  Wait  a  bit.  Remember  our  Saviour's 
words,  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  net, 
that  was  cast  into  the  sea,  and  gathered  of  every  kind ; 


WHAT  IS  IT  TO  WIN  A  SOUL?  35 

which,  when  it  was  full,  they  drew  to  shore,  and  sat 
down,  and  gathered  the  good  into  vessels,  but  cast 
the  bad  away."  Do  not  number  your  fishes  before 
they  are  broiled;  nor  count  your  converts  before  you 
have  tested  and  tried  them.  This  process  may  make 
your  work  somewhat  slow;  but  then,  brethren,  it  will 
be  sure.  Do  your  work  steadily  and  well,  so  that  those 
who  come  after  you  may  not  have  to  say  that  it  was 
far  more  trouble  to  them  to  clear  the  church  of  those 
who  ought  never  to  have  been  admitted  than  it  was 
to  you  to  admit  them.  If  God  enables  you  to  build 
three  thousand  ^bricks  into  His  spiritual  temple  in  one 
day,  you  may  do  it;  but  Peter  has  been  the  only 
bricklayer  who  has  accomplished  that  feat  up  to  the 
present.  Do  not  go  and  paint  the  wooden  wall  as  if 
it  were  solid  stone;  but  let  all  your  building  be  real, 
substantial,  and  true,  for  only  this  kind  of  work  is 
worth  the  doing.  Let  all  your  building  for  God  be 
like  that  of  the  apostle  Paul,  "According  to  the  grace 
of  God  which  is  given  unto  me,  as  a  wise  master 
builder,  I  have  laid  the  foundation,  and  another  build- 
eth  thereon.  But  let  every  man  take  heed  how  he 
buildeth  thereupon.  For  other  foundation  can  no  man 
lay  than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ.  Now  if  any 
man  build  upon  this  foundation  gold,  silver,  precious 
stones,  wood,  hay,  stubble;  every  man's  work  shall 
be  made  manifest:  for  the  day  shall  declare  it,  be- 
cause it  shall  be  revealed  by  fire;  and  the  fire  shall 
try  every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any  man's 
work  abide  which  he  hath  built  thereupon,  he  shall 
receive  a  reward.  If  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned, 
he  shall  suffer  loss;  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved;  yet 
so  as  by  fire." 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WlNNlNG 
GODWAKD. 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WIN 
NING--GODWARD. 


Our  main  business,  brethren,  is  to  win  souls.  Like 
the  shoeing-smiths,  we  need  to  know  a  great  many 
things;  but,  just  as  the  smith  mt/ si  know  about  horses, 
and  how  to  make  shoes  for  them,  so  we  7/ms/  know 
about  souls,  and  how  to  win  them  for  God.  The  part 
of  the  subject  on  which  I  shall  speak  to  you  this' 
afternoon  is — 

QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WINNING. 

keeping  myself  to  one  set  of  those  qualifications,  name- 
ly, the  Godward  ones,  and  I  shall  try  to  treat  the  sub- 
ject in  somewhat  of  a  common-sense  style,  asking  you 
to  judge  for  yourselves  what  those  qualifications  would 
be  wliich  God  would  naturally  look  for  in  His  servants, 
w^hat  qualifications  He  would  be  likely  to  approve,  and 
most  likely  to  use.  You  must  know  that  every  work- 
man, if  he  be  wise,  uses  a  tool  that  is  likely  to  accom- 
plish the  purpose  he  has  in  view.  There  are  some 
artists  who  have  never  been  able  to  play  except  upon 
their  own  violin,  nor  to  paint  except  with  their  own 
favourite  brush  and  palette;  and  certainly,  the  great 
God,  the  mightiest  of  all  the  workers,  in  His  great  ar- 
tistic work  of  soul-winning,  loves  to  have  His  own 
special  tools.    In  the  old  creation,  He  used  none  but 


40  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

His  own  instruments,  "He  spake,  and  it  was  done;" 
and  in  the  new  creation,  the  efficient  agent  is  still  His 
powerful  Word.  He  speaks  through  the  ministry  of 
His  servants,  and  therefore  they  must  be  fit  trumpets 
for  Him  to  speak  through,  fit  instruments  for  Him  to 
use  for  conveying  His  Word  to  the  ears  and  hearts 
of  men.  Judge  ye,  then,  my  brethren,  whether  God 
will  use  you;  imagine  yourselves  in  His  place,  and 
think  what  kind  of  men  those  would  be  whom  you 
would  be  most  likely  to  use  if  you  were  in  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Most  High  God.  . 
\  I  am  sure  ^ou  would  say,  first  of  all,  that«  man  whol 
is  to  be  a  soiil-wijiner  must  have  holiness  of  characterA 
Ah!  how  few  who  attempt  to  preach  think  sufficiently! 
of  this!  If  they  did,  it  would  strike  them  at  once  that 
the  Eternal  would  never  use  dirty  tools,  that  the  thrice- 
holy  Jehovah  would  only  select  holy  instruments  for 
the  accomplishment  of  His  work.  No  wise  man  would 
pour  his  wine  into  foul  bottles;  no  kind  and  good 
parent  would  allow  his  children  to  go  to  see  an  im- 
moral play;  and  God  will  not  go  to  work  with  instru- 
ments which  would  compromise  His  own  character. 
Suppose  it  were  well  known  that,  if  men  were  only 
clever,  God  would  use  them,  whatever  their  charac- 
ter and  conduct  might  be;  suppose  it  were  under- 
stood that  you  could  get  on  as  well  in  the  work  of 
God  by  chicanery  and  untruthfulness  as  by  honesty 
and  uprightness,  what  man  in  the  world,  with  any  right 
feeling,  would  not  be  ashamed  of  such  a  state  of  af- 
fairs? But,  brethren,  it  is  not  so.  There  are  many 
in  the  present  day  who  tell  us  that  the  theatre  is  a 
great  school  for  morals.  That  must  be  a  strange  school 
where  the  teachers  never  learn  their  own  lessons.  In 
God's  school,  the  teachers  must  be  masters  of  the  art 
of  holiness..    If  we  teach  one  thing  by  our  lips  and 


QUALIFICATIONS  B^OR  SOUL-WINNING.  41 

another  by  our  lives,  those  who  Usten  to  us  will  say, 
"Physician,  heal  thyself."  "Thou  sayest,  'Repent.' 
Where  is  thine  own  repentance?  Thou  sayest,  'Serve 
God,  and  be  obedient  to  His  will'  Do  you  serve 
Him?  Are  you  obedient  to  His  will?"  An  unholy 
ministry  would  be  the  derision  of  the  world,  and  a 
dishonour  to  God.  "Be  ye  clean,  that  bear  the  ves- 
sels of  the  Lord."  He  will  speak  through  a  fool  if  he  be 
but  a  holy  man.  I  do  not,  of  course,  mean  that  God 
chooses  fools  to  be  His  ministers;  but  let  a  man 
once  become  really  holy,  even  though  he  has  but  the 
slenderest  possible  ability,  he  will  be  a  more  fit  in- 
strument in  God's  hand  than  the  man  of  gigantic 
acquirements,  who  is  not  obedient  to  the  divine  will, 
nor  clean  and  pure  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  God 
Almighty. 

Dear  brethren,  I  do  beg  you  to  attach  the  highest 
importance  to  your  own  personal  holiness.  Do  live 
unto  God.  If  you  do  not,  your  Lord  will  not  be  with 
you;  He  will  say  of  you  as  He  said  of  the  false 
prophets  of  old,  'T  sent  them  not,  nor  commanded 
them:  therefore  they  shall  not  profit  this  people  at  all, 
saith  the  Lord."  You  may  preach  very  fine  sermons, 
but  if  you  are  not  yourselves  holy,  there  will  be  no 
souls  saved.  The  probability  is  that  you  will  not  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  your  want  of  holiness  is  the 
reason  for  your  non-success;  you  will  blame  the  peo- 
ple, you  will  blame  the  age  in  which  you  live,  you 
will  blame  anything  except  yourself;  but  there  will 
be  the  root  of  the  whole  mischief.  Do  I  not  myself 
know  men  of  considerable  ability  and  industry,  who 
go  on  year  after  year  without  any  increase  in  their 
churches?  The  reason  is  that  they  are  not  living 
before  God  as  they  ought  to  live.  Sometimes  the  evil 
is  in  the  family  of  the  minister;  his  sons  and  daugh- 


42  T|iE  SOUL-WINNER. 

ters  are  rebels  against  God,  bad  language  is  allowed 
even  amongst  his  own  children,  and  his  reproofs  are 
simply  like  Eli's  mild  question  to  his  wicked  sons, 
"Why  do  ye  such  things?"  Sometimes,  the  minister  is 
worldly,  greedy  after  gain,  neglectful  of  his  work. 
That  is  not  according  to  God's  mind,  and  He  will 
not  bless  such  a  man.  When  I  listened  to  Mr.  George 
Miiller,  as  he  was  preaching  at  Mentone,  it  was  just 
such  an  address  as  might  be  given  to  a  Sunday-school 
by  an  ordinary  teacher,  yet  I  never  heard  a  sermon 
that  did  me  more  good,  and  more  richly  profited  my 
soul.  It  was  George  Miiller  in  it  that  made  it  so  use- 
ful. There  was  no  George  Miiller  in  it  in  one  sense; 
for  he  preached  not  himself,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord; 
he  was  only  there  in  his  personality  as  a  witness  to 
the  truth,  but  he  bore  that  witness  in  such  a  manner 
that  you  could  not  help  saying,  "That  man  not  only 
preaches  what  he  believes,  but  also  what  he  lives."  In 
every  word  he  uttered  his  glorious  life  of  faith  seemed 
to  fall  upon  both  ear  and  heart.  I  was  delighted  to 
sit  and  listen  to  him;  yet,  as  for  novelty  or  strength 
of  thought,  there  was  not  a  trace  of  it  in  the  whole 
discourse.  Holiness  was  the  preacher's  force;  and 
you  may  depend  upon  it  that,  if  God  is  to  bless  us,  our 
strength  must  lie  in  the  same  direction. 

This  holiness  ought  to  show  itself  in  communion 
with  God.  If  a  man  delivers  his  own  message,  it 
will  have  such  power  as  his  own  character  gives  to  it; 
but  if  he  delivers  his  Master's  message,  having  heard 
it  from  his  Master's  lips,  that  will  be  quite  another 
thing;  and  if  he  can  acquire  something  of  the  Mas- 
ter's spirit  as  He  looked  upon  him,  and  gave  him  the 
message,  if  he  can  reproduce  the  expression  of  his 
Master's  face,  and  the  tone  of  his  Master's  voice,  that 
also  will  be  quite  another  thing.     Read  McCheyne's 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WINNING.  43 

Memoir,  read  the  whole  of  it,  I  cannot  do  you  a  better 
service  than  by  recommending  you  to  read  it;  there 
is  no  great  freshness  of  thought,  there  is  nothing  very 
novel  or  striking  in  it,  but  as  you  read  it,  you  must  get 
good  out  of  it,  for  you  are  conscious  that  it  is  the  story 
of  the  life  of  a  man  who  walked  with  God.  Moody 
would  never  have  spoken  with  the  force  he  did  if  he 
had  not  lived  a  life  of  fellowship  with  the  Father,  and 
with  His  Son,  Jesus  Christ.  The  greatest  force  of  the 
sermon  lies  in  what  has  gone  before  the  sermon.  You 
must  get  ready  for  the  whole  service  by  private  fellow- 
ship with  God,  and  real  holiness  of  character. 

You  will  all  confess  that,  if  a  man  is  to  be  used; 
as  a  winner  of  souls,  he  must  have  spiritual  life  to  «|. 
high  degree.  You  see,  brethren,  our  work  is,  under  j ' 
God,  to  communicate  life  to  others.  It  would  be  well 
to  imitate  Elisha  when  he  stretched  himself  upon  the 
dead  child,  and  brought  him  back  to  life.  The 
prophet's  staff  was  not  sufficient,  because  it  had  no 
life  in  it:  the  life  must  be  communicated  by  a  living 
instrument,  and  the  man  who  is  to  communicate  the 
life  must  have  a  great  deal  of  it  himself.  You  re- 
member the  words  of  Christ,  "He  that  believeth  on 
Me,  as  the  Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall 
flow  rivers  of  living  water,"  that  is,  the  Holy  Spirit, 
when  He  dwells  within  a  living  child  of  God,  after- 
wards rises  out  of  the  very  midst  of  him  as  a  foun- 
tain or  a  river,  so  that  others  may  come  and  partici- 
pate in  the  Spirit's  gracious  influences.  I  do  not  think 
there  is  one  of  you  who  would  wish  to  be  a  dead  min- 
ister. God  will  not  use  dead  tools  for  working  living 
miracles;  He  must  have  living  men,  and  men  that  are 
all  alive.  There  are  many  who  are  alive,  but  they  are  not 
altogether  alive.  I  remember  once  seeing  a  painting  of 
the  resurrection,  which  was  one  of  the  queerest  pictures 


44  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

I  ever  saw.  The  artist  had  attempted  to  depict  the 
moment  when  the  work  was  only  half  done;  there 
were  some  who  were  alive  down  as  far  as  their  waists, 
some  had  one  arm  alive,  some  had  part  of  their  heads 
alive.  The  thing  is  quite  possible  in  our  day.  There 
are  some  men  who  are  only  about  half  alive ;  they  have 
a  living  jaw,  but  not  a  living  heart;  others  have  a 
living  heart,  but  not  a  living  brain;  others  have  a 
living  eye,  they  can  see  things  pretty  plainly,  but  their 
hearts  are  not  alive,  they  can  give  good  descriptions 
of  what  they  see,  but  there  is  no  warmth  of  love  in 
them.  There  are  some  ministers  who  are  one-half 
angel,  and  the  other  half — well,  let  us  say,  maggots. 
It  is  an  awful  contrast;  but  there  are  many  instances 
of  it.  Are  there  any  such  here?  They  preach  well, 
and  you  say,  as  you  listen  to  one  of  them,  'That  is  a 
good  man."  You  feel  that  he  is  a  good  man;  you 
hear  that  he  is  going  to  such-and-such  a  person's  house 
to  supper,  and  you  think  that  you  will  go  in  to  supper 
there,  too,  that  you  may  hear  what  gracious  words 
will  fall  from  his  lips;  and  as  you  watch,  out  they 
come — maggots!  It  was  an  angel  in  the  pulpit;  now 
come  the  worms !  It  is  so,  often,  but  it  ought  never  to 
be  so;  if  we  want  to  be  true  witnesses  for  God,  we 
must  be  all  angel  and  no  worms.  God  deliver  us 
from  this  state  of  semi-death!  May  we  be  all  alive 
from  the  crown  of  our  head  to  the  sole  of  our  foot! 
I  know  some  such  ministers;  you  cannot  come  into 
contact  with  them  without  feeling  the  power  of  the 
spiritual  life  which  is  in  them.  It  is  not  merely  while 
they  are  talking  upon  religious  topics,  but  even  in 
the  commonplace  things  of  the  world,  you  are  con- 
scious that  there  is  something  about  the  men  which 
tells  you  that  they  are  all  alive  unto  God.  Such  men 
will  be  used  by  God  for  the  quickening  of  others. 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL- WINNING.  45 

Suppose  it  were  possible  for  you  to  be  exalted  into 
the  place  of  God,  do  you  not  think,  next,  that  you 
would  employ  a  man  who  thought  little  of  himself,  a 
man  of  humble  spirit?  If  you  saw  a  very  proud  man, 
would  you  be  likely  to  use  him  as  your  servant?  Cer- 
tainly, the  great  God  has  a  predilection  for  those  who 
are  humble.  "For  thus  saith  the  high  and  lofty  One 
that  inhabiteth  eternity,  whose  name  is  Holy;  I  dwell 
in  the  high  and  holy  place,  with  him  also  that  is  of 
a  contrite  and  humble  spirit,  to  revive  the  spirit  of  the 
humble,  and  to  revive  the  heart  of  the  contrite  ones." 
He  loatheth  the  proud;  and  whenever  He  sees  the 
high  and  mighty,  He  passes  them  by;  but  whenever 
He  finds  the  lowly  in  heart,  He  takes  pleasure  in  ex- 
alting them.  He  delights  especially  in  humility 
amongst  His  ministers.  It  is  an  awful  sight  to  see  a 
proud  minister.  There  are  few  things  that  can  give 
the  devil  more  joy  than  this,  whenever  he  takes  his 
walks  abroad.  Here  is  something  that  delights  him, 
and  he  says  to  himself,  "Here  are  all  the  preparations 
for  a  great  fall  before  long."  Some  ministers  show 
their  pride  by  their  style  in  the  pulpit;  you  can  never 
forget  the  way  in  which  they  announced  their  text; 
'*It  is  /.•  be  not  afraid.*'  Others  manifest  it  in  their 
attire,  in  the  silly  vanity  of  their  dress ;  or  else  in  their 
common  talk,  in  which  they  continually  magnify  the 
deficiencies  of  others,  and  dilate  on  their  own  extra- 
ordinary excellences.  There  are  two  sorts  of  proud 
people,  and  it  is  difficult  sometimes  to  say  which  of  the 
two  is  the  worse.  There  is,  first  of  all,  the  kind  that  is 
full  of  that  vanity  which  talks  about  itself,  and  invites 
other  people  to  talk  about  it,  too,  and  to  pat  it  on  the 
back,  and  stroke  its  feathers  the  right  way.  It  is  all 
full  of  its  little  morsel  of  a  self,  and  goes  strutting 
about,  and  saying,  "Praise  me,  please,  praise  me,  I 


46  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

want  it,"  like  a  little  child  who  goes  to  each  one  in  the 
room,  and  says,  ''See  my  new  dress;  isn't  it  a  beauty?" 
You  may  have  seen  some  of  these  pretty  dears ;  I  have 
met  many  of  them.  The  other  kind  of  pride  is  too 
big  for  tiiat  sort  of  thing.  It  does  not  care  for  it;  it 
despises  people  so  much  that  it  does  not  condescend 
to  wdsh  for  their  praises.  It  is  so  supremely  satisfied 
with  itself  that  it  does  not  stoop  to  consider  what 
others  think  of  it.  I  have  sometimes  thought  it  is  the 
more  dangerous  kind  of  pride  spiritually,  but  it  is 
much  the  more  respectable  of  the  two.  There  is,  after 
all,  something  very  noble  in  being  too  proud  to  be 
proud.  Suppose  those  great  donkeys  did  bray  at  you, 
do  not  be  such  a  donkey  as  to  notice  them.  But  this 
other  poor  little  soul  says,  "Well,  everybody's  praise 
is  worth  something,"  and  so  he  baits  his  mousetraps, 
and  tries  to  catch  little  mice  of  praise,  that  he  may 
cook  them  for  his  breakfast.  He  has  a  mighty  appetite 
for  such  things.  Brethren,  get  rid  of  both  kinds  of 
pride  if  you  have  anything  of  either  of  them  about 
you.  The  dw^arf  pride  and  the  ogre  pride  are  both  of 
them  abominations  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.  Never 
forget  that  you  are  disciples  o£'  Him  who  said,  "Learn 
of  Me;   for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart." 

Humility  is  not  having  a  mean  opinion  of  yourself. 
If  a  man  has  a  low  opinion  of  himself,  it  is  very  possible 
that  he  is  correct  in  his  estimate.  I  have  known  some 
people,  whose  opinion  of  themselves,  according  to  what 
they  have  said,  was  very  low  indeed.  They  thought 
so  little  of  their  own  powers  that  they  never  ventured 
to  try  to  do  any  good;  they  said  they  had  no  self- 
reliance.  I  have  known  some  so  wonderfully  humble 
that  they  have  always  liked  to  pick  an  easy  place  for 
themselves;  they  were  too  humble  to  do  anything 
that  would  bring  any  blame  upon  them;   they  called 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WINNING.  47 

it  humility,  but  I  thought  "sinful  love  of  ease"  would 
have  been  a  better  name  for  their  conduct.  True 
humility  will  lead  you  to  think  rightly  about  your- 
selves, to  think  the  truth  about  yourselves. 

In  the  matter  of  soul-winning,  humility  makes  you 
feel  that  you  are  nothing  and  nobody,  and  that,  if 
God  gives  you  success  in  the  work,  you  will  be  driven 
to  ascribe  to  Him  all  the  glory,  for  none  of  the  credit 
of  it  could  properly  belong  to  you.  If  you  do  not 
have  success,  humility  will  lead  you  to  blame  your 
own,  folly  and  weakness,  not  God's  sovereignty.  Why 
should  God  give  blessing,  and  then  let  you  run  away 
with  the  glory  of  it?  The  glory  of  the  salvation  of 
souls  belongs  to  Him,  and  to  Him  alone.  Then  why 
should  you  try  to  steal  it?  You  know  how  many 
attempt  this  theft.  "When  I  was  preaching  at  such- 
and-such  a  place,  fifteen  persons  came  into  the  vestry 
at  the  close  of  the  service,  and  thanked  me  for  the 
sermon  I  had  preached."  You  and  your  blessed  sermon 
be  hanged, — I  might  have  used  a  stronger  word  if  I 
had  liked,  for  really  you  are  worthy  of  condemnation 
whenever  you  take  to  yourself  the  honour  wdiich 
belongeth  unto  God  only.  You  remember  the  story 
of  the  young  prince,  who  came  into  the  room  where 
he  thought  his  dying  father  was  sleeping,  and  put  the 
king's  crown  on  his  head  to  see  how  it  would  fit  him. 
The  king,  who  was  watching  him,  said,  "Wait  a  little 
while,  my  son,  wait  till  I  am  dead."  So,  when  you 
feel  any  inclination  to  put  the  cro^wn  of  glor\^  on  your 
head,  just  fancy  that  you  hear  God  saying  to  you, 
"Wait  till  I  am  dead,  before  you  try  on  My  crown." 
As  that  will  never  be,  you  had  better  leave  the  crown 
alone,  and  let  Him  wear  it  to  whom  it  rightfully 
belongs.    Our  song  must  ever  be,  *'Not  unto  us,  O 


48  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  Thy  name  give  glory,  for 
Thy  mercy,  and  for  Thy  truth's  sake." 

Some  men  who  have  not  had  humihty,  have  been 
sent  adrift  from  the  ministry,  for  the  Lord  will  not  use 
those  who  will  not  ascribe  the  honour  entirely  to 
Himself.  Humility  is  one  of  the  chief  qualifications 
for  usefulness;  many  have  passed  away  from  the  roll 
of  useful  men  because  they  have  been  lifted  up  with 
pride,  and  so  have  fallen  into  the  snare  of  the  devil. 
Perhaps  you  feel  that,  as  you  are  only  poor  students, 
there  is  no  fear  of  your  falling  into  this  sin;  but  it  is 
quite  possible  that  with  some  of  you  there  is  all  the 
more  danger,  for  this  very  reason,  if  God  should  bless 
you,  and  put  you  in  a  prominent  position.  A  man  who 
is  brought  up  in  a  good  circle  of  society  all  his  life, 
does  not  feel  the  change  so  much  when  he  reaches  a 
position  which  to  others  would  be  a  great  elevation.  I 
always  feel  that,  in  the  case  of  certain  men  whom  I 
could  name,  a  great  mistake  was  made.  As  soon  as 
they  were  converted,  they  were  taken  right  out  of 
their  former  associations,  and  put  before  the  public  as 
popular  preachers.  It  was  a  great  pity  that  many  made 
little  kings  of  them,  and  so  prepared  the  way  for  their 
fall,  for  they  could  not  bear  the  sudden  change.  It 
would  have  been  a  good  thing  for  them,  if  ever}^body 
had  pitched  into  them,  and  abused  them,  for  ten  or 
twenty  years;  for  it  would  have  probably  saved  them 
from  much  after-misery.  I  am  always  very  grateful 
for  the  rough  treatment  I  received  in  my  earlier  days 
from  all  sorts  of  people.  The  moment  I  ever  did  any 
good  thing  at  all,  they  were  at  me  like  a  pack  of 
hounds.  I  had  not  time  to  sit  down  and  boast  what  I 
had  done,  for  they  w^ere  raving  and  roaring  at  me 
continually.    If  I  had  been  picked  up  all  of  a  sudden. 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WINNING.  49 

and  placed  where  1  am  now,  the  probabihty  is  that 
I  should  have  gone  down  again  just  as  quickly.  When 
you  go  out  of  the  College,  it  will  be  well  for  you  if 
you  are  treated  as  I  was.  If  you  have  great  success, 
it  will  turn  your  head  if  God  does  not  permit  you  to 
be  afflicted  in  some  way  or  other.  If  you  are  ever 
tempted  to  say,  "Is  not  this  great  Babylon,  that  I 
have  built?"  just  remember  Nebuchadnezzar,  when 
he  was  "driven  from  men,  and  did  eat  grass  as  oxen, 
and  his  body  was  wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  till 
his  hairs  were  grown  like  eagles'  feathers,  and  his 
nails  like  birds'  claws."  God  has  many  ways  of 
fetching  proud  Nebuchadnezzars  down,  and  He  can 
very  easily  humble  you  too,  if  you  are  ever  lifted 
up  with  conceit.  This  point  of  the  need  of  deep 
humility  in  a  soul-winner  does  not  need  any  proof; 
everyone  can  see,  with  half  an  eye,  that  God  is  not 
Hkely  to  bless  any  man  much  unless  he  is  truly 
humble. 

The  next  essential  qualification  for  success  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord,  and  it  is  a  vital  one,  is  a  living  faitJi. 
You  know,  brethren,  how  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  could 
not  do  many  mighty  works  in  his  own  country  because 
of  the  unbelief  of  the  people;  and  it  is  equally  true  that 
with  some  men,  God  can  not  do  many  mighty  works  be- 
cause of  their  unbelief.  If  ye  will  not  believe,  neither 
shall  ye  be  used  of  God.  "According  to  your  faith  be 
it  unto  you,"  is  one  of  the  unalterable  laws  of  His 
kingdom.  *Tf  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed, 
ye  shall  say  unto  this  mountain,  Remove  hence  to 
yonder  place,  and  it  shall  remove,  and  nothing  shall 
be  impossible  unto  you ;"  but  if  the  question  has  to  be 
put,  "Where  is  your  faith?"  the  mountains  will  not  move 
for  you,  nor  will  even  a  poor  sycamore  tree  be  stirred 
from  its  place. 


50  tHE  SOUL- WINNER. 

You  must  have  faith,  brethren,  about  your  call  to 
the  ministry;  you  must  believe  without  question  that 
you  are  really  chosen  of  God  to  be  ministers  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  If  you  firmly  believe  that  God  has 
called  you  to  preach  the  gospel,  you  will  preach  it 
with  courage  and  confidence;  and  you  will  feel  that 
you  are  going  to  your  work  because  you  have  a  right 
to  do  it.  If  you  have  an  idea  that  possibly  you  are 
nothing  but  an  interloper,  you  will  do  nothing  of  any 
account;  you  will  be  only  a  poor,  limping,  diffident, 
half-apologetic  preacher,  for  whose  message  no  one 
will  care.  You  had  better  not  begin  to  preach  until 
you  are  quite  sure  that  God  has  called  you  to  the 
work.  A  man  once  wrote  to  ask  me  whether  he  should 
preach  or  not.  When  I  do  not  know  what  reply  to 
send  to  anyone,  I  always  try  to  give  as  wise  an  answer 
as  I  possibly  can.  Accordingly,  I  wrote  to  this  man, 
"Dear  Friend — If  the  Lord  has  opened  your  mouth, 
the  devil  cannot  shut  it;  but  if  the  devil  has  opened 
it,  may  the  Lord  shut  it  up!"  Six  months  afterwards, 
I  met  the  man,  and  he  thanked  me  for  my  letter, 
which,  he  said,  greatly  encouraged  him  to  go  on 
preaching.  I  said,  "How  was  that?''  He  replied, 
"You  said,  If  the  Lord  has  opened  your  mouth,  the 
devil  cannot  shut  it' "  I  said,  "Yes,  I  did  so ;  but  I 
also  put  the  other  side  of  the  question."  "Oh!"  said 
he,  at  once,  "that  part  did  not  relate  to  me."  We  can 
always  have  oracles  to  suit  our  own  ideas  if  we  know 
how  to  interpret  them.  If  you  have  genuine  faith  in 
your  call  to  the  ministry,  you  wdll  be  ready,  with 
Luther,  to  preach  the  gospel  even  while  standing 
within  the  jaws  of  the  leviathan,  between  his  great 
teeth. 

You  must  also  believe  that  the  message  you  have 
to  deliver  is  God's  Word.     I  had  sooner  that  you 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WINNING.  51 

believed  half-a-dozen  truths  intensely  than  a  hundred 
only  feebly.  If  your  hand  is  not  large  enough  to  hold 
a  great  deal,  hold  firmly  what  you  can;  because,  if  it 
came  to  a  regular  push  and  shove,  and  we  all  of  us 
were  allowed  to  carry  away  as  much  gold  as  we  could 
take  from  a  heap,  it  might  not  be  much  use  to  have  a 
very  big  purse,  but  he  would  come  ofif  best  in  the 
scuffle  who  should  close  his  hand  tightly  on  as  much 
as  he  could  conveniently  hold,  and  not  let  it  go.  Wc 
may  sometimes  do  well  to  imitate  the  boy  mentioned 
in  the  ancient  fable.  When  he  put  his  hand  into  a 
narrow-necked  jar,  and  grasped  as  many  nuts  as  lie 
could  hold,  he  could  not  get  even  one  of  them  out; 
but  when  he  let  half  of  them  go,  the  rest  came  out 
with  ease.  So  must  we  do;  we  cannot  hold  every- 
thing, it  is  impossible,  our  hand  is  not  big  enough; 
but  when  we  do  get  anything  in  it,  let  us  hold  it  fast, 
and  grip  it  tightly.  Believe  what  you  do  believe,  or 
else  you  will  never  persuade  anybody  else  to  believe 
it.  If  you  adopt  this  style,  **I  think  this  is  a  truth, 
and  as  a  young  man  I  beg  to  ask  your  kind  attention 
to  what  I  am  about  to  say;  I  am  merely  suggesting," 
and  so  on,  if  that  is  your  mode  of  preaching,  you  will 
go  to  work  the  easiest  way  to  breed  doubters.  I  would 
rather  hear  you  say,  "Young  as  I  am,  what  I  have  to 
say  comes  from  God,  and  God's  Word  says  so-and-so 
and  so-and-so;  there  it  is,  and  you  must  believe  what 
God  says,  or  you  will  be  lost."  The  people  who  hear 
you  will  say,  "That  young  fellow  certainly  believes 
something;"  and  very  likely  some  of  them  will  be  led 
to  believe,  too.  God  uses  the  faith  of  His  ministers 
to  breed  faith  in  other  people.  You  may  depend 
upon  it  that  souls  are  not  saved  by  a  minister  who 
doubts;  and  the  preaching  of  your  doubts  and  your 
questions  can  never  possibly  decide  a  soul  for  Christ. 


52  THE  SOUT.-WINNER. 

You  must  have  great  faith  in  the  Word  of  God  if  you 
are  to  be  winners  of  souls  to  those  who  hear  it. 

You  must  also  believe  in  the  power  of  that  message 
to  save  people.  You  may  have  heard  the  story  of  one 
of  our  first  students,  who  came  to  me,  and  said,  "I 
have  been  preaching  now  for  some  months,  and  I  do 
not  think  I  have  had  a  single  conversion."  I  said  to 
him,  "And  do  you  expect  that  the  Lord  is  going  to 
bless  vou  and  save  souls  every  time  you  open  your 
mouth  ?"  "No,  sir,"  he  replied.  "Well,  then,"  I  said, 
"that  is  why  you  do  not  get  souls  saved.  If  you  had 
believed,  the  Lord  would  have  given  the  blessing."  I 
had  caught  him  very  nicely;  but  many  others  would 
have  answered  me  in  just  the  same  way  as  he  did. 
They  tremblingly  believe  that  it  is  possible,  by  some 
strange  mysterious  method,  that  once  in  a  hundred 
sermons  God  might  win  a  quarter  of  a  soul.  They 
have  hardly  enough  faith  to  keep  them  standing- 
upright  in  their  boots;  how  can  they  expect  God  to 
bless  them?  I  like  to  go  to  the  pulpit  feeling,  "This 
is  God's  Word  that  I  am  going  to  deliver  in  His  name ; 
it  cannot  return  to  Him  void;  I  have  asked  His  bless- 
ing upon  it,  and  He  is  bound  to  give  it,  and  His  pur- 
poses will  be  answered,  whether  my  message  is  a 
savour  of  life  unto  life,  or  of  death  unto  death  to  those 
who  hear  it." 

Now,  if  this  is  how  you  feel,  what  will  be  the  result 
if  souls  are  not  saved?  Why,  you  will  call  special 
prayer-meetings,  to  seek  to  know  why  the  people  do 
not  come  to  Christ;  you  will  have  enquirers'  meetings 
for  the  anxious;  you  will  meet  the  people  with  a  joy- 
ful countenance,  so  that  they  may  see  that  you  are 
expecting  a  blessing,  but,  at  the  same  time,  you  will 
let  them  know  that  you  will  be  grievously  disappointed 
tinless  the  Lord  gives  you  conversions.    Yet,  how  is 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WINNING.  53 

it  in  many  places?  Nobody  prays  much  about  the 
matter,  there  are  no  meetings  for  crying  to  God  for 
a  blessing,  the  minister  never  encourages  the  people 
to  come  and  tell  him  about  the  work  of  grace  in  their 
souls;  verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  has  his  reward; 
he  gets  what  he  asked  for,  he  receives  what  he  expected, 
his  Master  gives  him  his  penny,  but  nothing  else.  The 
command  is,  ''Open  thy  mouth  wide,  and  I  will  fill 
it;"  and  here  we  sit,  with  closed  lips,  waiting  for  the 
blessing.  Open  your  mouth,  brother,  with  a  full  expec- 
tation, a  firm  belief,  and  according  to  your  faith  so 
shall  it  be  unto  you. 

That  is  the  essential  point,  you  must  believe  in  God 
and  in  His  gospel  if  you  are  to  be  a  winner  of  souls; 
some  other  things  may  be  omitted,  but  this  matter  of 
faith  must  never  be.  It  is  true  that  God  does  not 
always  measure  His  mercy  by  our  unbelief,  for  He  has 
to  think  of  other  people  as  well  as  of  us;  but,  looking 
at  the  matter  in  a  common-sense  way,  it  does  seem 
that  the  most  likely  instrument  to  do  the  Lord's  work 
is  the  man  who  expects  that  God  will  use  him,  and 
who  goes  forth  to  labour  in  the  strength  of  that  con- 
viction. When  success  comes,  he  is  not  surprised,  for 
he  was  looking  for  it.  He  sowed  living  seed,  and  he 
expected  to  reap  a  harvest  from  it;  he  cast  his  bread 
upon  the  waters,  and  he  means  to  search  and  watch 
till  he  finds  it  again. 

Once  more,  if  a  man  is  to  succeed  in  his  ministry, 
and  win  many  souls,  he  must  be  characterized  by 
thorough  ea?'7tcstness.  Do  we  not  know  some  men,  who 
preach  in  such  a  lifeless  manner  that  it  is  highly  im- 
probable that  anybody  will  ever  be  alTected  by  what 
they  say?  I  was  present  when  a  good  man  asked  the 
Lord  to  bless  to  the  conversion  of  sinners  the  sermon 
that  he  was  about  to  deliver.     I  do  not  wish  to  limit 


54  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

omnipotence,  but  I  do  not  believe  that  God  could 
bless  to  any  sinner  the  sermon  that  was  then  preached 
unless  He  had  made  the  hearer  misunderstand  what 
the  minister  said.  It  was  one  of  those  ''bright  poker 
sermons,"  as  I  call  them.  You  know  that  there  are 
pokers  that  are  kept  in  drawing-rooms  to  be  looked 
at,  but  never  used.  If  you  ever  tried  to  poke  the  fire 
with  them,  would  not  you  catch  it  from  the  lady  of  the 
house?  These  sermons  are  just  like  those  pokers, 
polished  up,  bright,  and  cold;  they  seem  as  if  they 
might  have  some  relation  to  the  people  in  the  fixed 
stars,  they  certainly  have  no  connection  with  anyone  in 
this  world.  What  good  could  come  of  such  discourses, 
no  one  can  tell;  but  I  feel  sure  there  is  not  power 
enough  in  them  to  kill  a  cockroach,  or  a  spider;  cer- 
tainly, there  is  no  power  in  them  to  bring  a  dead  soul 
to  life.  There  are  some  sermons  of  which  it  is  quite 
true  that,  the  more  you  think  of  them,  the  less  you 
think  of  them;  and  if  any  poor  sinner  goes  to  hear 
them  with  the  hope  of  getting  saved,  you  can  only  say 
that  the  minister  is  more  likely  to  stand  in  the  way  of 
his  going  to  heaven  than  to  point  him  to  the  right  road. 
You  may  depend  upon  it  that  you  may  make  men 
understand  the  truth  if  you  really  want  to  do  so;  but 
if  you  are  not  in  earnest,  it  is  not  likely  that  they  will 
be.  If  a  man  were  to  knock  at  my  door  in  the  middle 
of  the  night,  and  when  I  put  my  head  out  of  the 
window  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  he  should  say,  in 
a  very  quiet,  unconcerned  way,  "There  is  a  fire  at  the 
back  part  of  your  house,"  I  should  have  very  little 
thought  of  any  fire,  and  should  feel  inclined  to  empty 
a  jug  of  water  over  him.  If  I  am  walking  along,  and 
a  man  comes  up  to  me,  and  says,  in  a  cheerful  tone  of 
voice,  "Good  afternoon,  sir,  do  you  know  that  I  am 
starving?     I  have  not  tasted  food  for  ever  so  long, 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WINNING.  55 

indeed,  I  have  not;"  I  should  reply,  "My  good  fellow, 
you  seem  to  take  it  very  easy;  I  do  not  believe  you 
want  for  much,  or  you  would  not  be  so  unconcerned 
about  it."  Some  men  seem  to  preach  in  this  fashion: — 
"My  dear  friends,  this  is  Sunday,  so  here  I  am;  I 
have  been  spending  my  time  in  my  study  all  the  week, 
and  now  I  hope  you  will  listen  to  what  I  have  to  say 
to  you.  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  anything  in  it 
that  particularly  concerns  you,  it  might  have  some 
connection  with  the  man  in  the  moon;  but  I  under- 
stand that  some  of  you  are  in  danger  of  going  to  a 
certain  place  which  I  do  not  wish  to  mention,  only  I 
hear  that  it  is  not  a  nice  place  for  even  a  temporary 
residence.  I  have  especially  to  preach  to  you  that 
Jesus  Christ  did  something  or  other,  which,  in  some 
way  or  other,  has  something  to  do  with  salvation,  and 
if  you  mind  what  you  do" — and  so  on — *'it  is  possible 
that  you  will" — and  so  on,  and  so  on.  That  is,  in  a 
nutshell,  the  full  report  of  many  a  discourse.  There 
is  nothing  in  that  kind  of  talk  that  can  do  anybody 
any  good;  and  after  the  man  has  kept  on  in  that  style 
for  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  he  closes  by  saying, 
"Now  it  is  time  to  go  home,"  and  he  hopes  that  the 
deacons  will  give  him  a  couple  of  guineas  for  his 
services.  Now,  brethren,  that  sort  of  thing  will  not 
do.  We  did  not  come  into  the  world  to  waste  our 
own  time,  and  other  people's,  in  that  fashion. 

I  hope  we  were  born  for  something  better  than  to 
be  mere  chips  in  the  porridge,  like  the  man  I  have 
described.  Only  fancy  God  sending  a  man  into  the 
world  to  try  to  win  souls,  and  that  is  the  style  of  his 
mind,  and  the  whole  spirit  of  his  life.  There  are  some 
ministers  who  are  constantly  being  knocked  up  with 
doing  nothing:  they  preach  two  sermons,  of  a  sort,  on 
Sunday,  and  they  say  the  effort  almost  wears  their 


56  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

life  out;  and  they  go  and  give  little  pastoral  visitations, 
which  consist  in  drinking  a  cup  of  tea  and  talking 
small  gossip;  but  there  is  no  vehement  agony  for 
souls,  no  "Woe!  woe!"  on  their  hearts  and  lips,  no 
perfect  consecration,  no  zeal  in  God's  service.  Well, 
if  the  Lord  sweeps  them  away,  if  He  cuts  them  down 
as  cumberers  of  the  ground,  it  will  not  be  a  matter  for 
surprise.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  wept  over  Jerusalem, 
and  you  will  have  to  weep  over  sinners  if  they  are  to 
be  saved  through  you.  Dear  brethren,  do  be  earnest, 
put  your  whole  soul  into  the  work,  or  else  give  it  up. 

Another  qualification  that  is  essential  to  soul-win- W 
ning  is  great  simplicity  of  heart,  I  do  not  know 
whether  I  can  thoroughly  explain  what  I  mean  by 
that,  but  I  will  try  to  make  it  clear  by  contrasting  it 
with  something  else.  You  know  some  men  who  are 
too  wise  to  be  just  simple  believers;  they  know  such 
a  lot  that  they  do  not  believe  anything  that  is  plain 
and  simple.  Their  souls  have  been  fed  so  daintily 
that  they  cannot  live  on  anything  but  Chinese  birds'- 
nest,  and  such  luxuries.  There  is  no  milk  that  ever 
came  fresh  from  a  cow  that  is  good  enough  for  them, 
they  are  far  too  superfine  to  drink  such  a  beverage  as 
that.  Everything  they  have  must  be  incomparable. 
Now  God  does  not  bless  these  exquisite  celestial 
dandies,  these  spiritual  aristocrats.  No,  no;  as  soon 
as  you  see  them,  you  feel  ready  to  say,  "They  may 
do  well  enough  as  Lord  So-and-So's  servants,  but 
they  are  not  the  men  to  do  God's  work.  He  is  not 
likely  to  employ  such  grand  gentlemen  as  they  are." 
When  they  select  a  text,  they  never  explain  its  true 
meaning;  but  they  go  round  about  to  find  out  some- 
thing that  the  Holy  Ghost  never  intended  to  convey 
by  it,  and  when  they  get  hold  of  one  of  their  precious 
'*new  thoughts" — oh,  dear!    what   a    fuss  they  make 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SO UL-Vv  INNING.  57 

over  it!  Here  is  a  man  who  has  found  a  stale  herring! 
What  a  treat!  It  is  so  odoriferous!  Now  we  shall 
hear  of  this  stale  herring  for  the  next  six  months,  when 
somebody  else  will  find  another  one.  What  a  shout 
they  set  up!  ''Glory!  Glory!  Glory!  Here  is  a  new 
thought!"  A  new  book  comes  out  about  it,  and  all 
these  great  men  go  sniiftng  round  it  to  prove  what 
deep  thinkers  and  what  wonderful  men  they  are.  God 
does  not  bless  that  kind  of  wisdom. 

By  simplicity  of  heart,  I  mean,  that  a  man  evidently 
goes  into  the  ministry  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
winning  of  souls,  and  nothing  else.  There  are  some 
men  who  would  like  to  win  souls  and  glorify  God  if  it 
could  be  done  with  due  regard  to  their  own  interests. 
They  would  be  delighted,  oh,  yes!  certainly,  very 
pleased  indeed,  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  if 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  would  give  full  play  to  their 
amazing  powders.  They  would  go  in  for  soul-winning 
if  it  would  induce  people  to  take  the  horses  out  of 
their  carriage,  and  drag  them  in  triumph  through  the 
street;  they  must  be  somebody,  they  must  be  known, 
they  must  be  talked  about,  they  must  hear  people  say, 
''What  a  splendid  man  that  is!"  Of  course,  they  give 
God  the  glory  after  they  have  sucked  the  juice  out 
of  it,  but  they  must  have  the  orange  themselves 
first.  Well,  you  know,  there  is  that  sort  of  spirit  even 
among  ministers,  and  God  cannot  endure  it.  He  is 
not  going  to  have  a  man's  leavings;  He  will  have  all 
the  glory,  or  none  at  all.  If  a  man  seeks  to  serve 
himself,  to  get  honour  to  himself,  instead  of  seeking 
to  serve  God  and  honour  Him  alone,  the  Lord  Jehovah 
will  not  use  that  man.  A  man  who  is  to  be  used  by 
God  must  just  believe  that  what  he  is  going  to  do  is 
for  the  glory  of  God,  and  he  must  work  from  no  other 
motive.     W1ien  outsiders  go  to  hear  some  preachers, 


58  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

all  that  they  remember  is  that  they  were  capital  actors ; 
but  here  is  a  very  different  kind  of  man.  After  they 
have  heard  him  preach,  they  do  not  think  about  how 
he  looked,  or  how  he  spoke,  but  about  the  solemn 
truths  he  uttered.  Another  man  keeps  rolling  out 
what  he  has  to  tell  in  such  a  fashion  that  those  .who 
listen  to  him  say  to  one  another,  "Do  you  not  see 
that  he  lives  by  his  preaching?  He  preaches  for  his 
living."  I  would  rather  hear  it  said,  "That  man  said 
something  in  his  sermon  that  made  many  of  the 
people  think  less  of  him,  he  uttered  most  distasteful 
sentiments,  he  did  nothing  but  drive  at  us  with  the 
Word  of  the  Lord  all  the  while  that  he  was  preaching, 
his  one  aim  was  to  bring  us  to  repentance  and  faith 
in  Christ."  That  is  the  kind  of  a  man  whom  the  Lord 
delights  to  bless. 

I  like  to  see  men,  like  some  before  me  here,  to 
whom  I  have  said,  "Here  you  are,  earning  a  good 
salary,  and  likely  to  rise  to  a  position  of  influence  in 
the  world;  if  you  give  up  your  business,  and  come 
into  the  College,  you  will  very  likely  be  a  poor  Baptist 
minister  all  your  life;"  and  they  have  looked  up,  and 
said,  "I  had  sooner  starve  and  win  souls  than  spend 
my  life  in  any  other  calling."  Most  of  you  are  that 
kind  of  men,  I  believe  you  all  are.  There  must  never 
be  an  eye  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  fat  sheep; 
it  must  never  be  God's  glory  and  your  own  honour 
and  esteem  among  men.  It  will  not  do;  no,  not 
even  if  you  preach  to  please  God  aiid  Jemima;  it 
must  be  God's  glory  alone,  nothing  less  and  nothing 
else,  not  even  Jemima.  As  the  limpet  to  the  rock, 
so  is  she  to  the  minister;  but  it  will  not  do  for  him 
even  to  think  of  pleasing  her.  With  true  simplicity 
of  heart,  he  must  seek  to  please  God,  whether  men 
and  women  are  pleased  or  not. 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WINNING.  59 

Lastly,  there  must  be  a  complete  surrender  of  your- 
self to  God,  in  this  sense,  that  from  this  time  you  wish 
to  think,  not  your  own  thoughts,  but  God's  thoughts; 
and  that  you  determine  to  preach,  not  anything  of 
your  own  invention,  but  God's  Word;  and  further, 
that  you  resolve  not  even  to  give  out  that  truth  in 
your  own  way,  but  in  God's  way.  Suppose  you  read 
your  sermons,  which  is  not  very  likely,  you  desire  not 
to  write  anything  but  what  shall  be  entirely  according 
to  the  Lord's  mind.  When  you  get  hold  of  a  fine  big 
word,  you  ask  yourself  whether  it  is  likely  to  be  a 
spiritual  blessing  to  your  people;  and  if  you  think  it 
woukl  not,  you  leave  it  out.  Then  there  is  that  grand 
bit  of  poetry  that  you  could  not  understand,  you  felt 
that  you  could  not  omit  that;  but  when  you  asked 
whether  it  was  likely  to  be  instructive  to  the  rank  and 
file  of  your  people,  you  were  obliged  to  reject  it.  You 
must  stick  those  gems,  that  you  found  on  a  literary 
dust-heap,  into  the  coronet  of  your  discourse,  if  you 
want  to  show  the  people  how  industrious  you  have 
been;  but  if  you  desire  to  leave  yourself  entirely  in 
God's  hands,  it  is  probable  that  you  will  be  led  to  make 
some  very  simple  statement,  some  trite  remark,  some- 
thing with  which  everyone  in  the  congregation  is  famil- 
iar. If  you  feel  moved  to  put  that  into  the  sermon,  put 
it  in  by  all  means,  even  if  you  have  to  leave  out  the  big 
words,  and  the  poetry,  and  the  gems,  for  it  may  be 
that  the  Lord  will  bless  that  simple  statement  of  the 
gospel  to  some  poor  sinner  who  is  seeking  the  Saviour. 

If  you  yield  yourself  thus  unreservedly  to  the  mind 
and  will  of  God,  by-and-by,  when  you  get  out  into  the 
ministry,  you  will  sometimes  be  impelled  to  use  a 
strange  expression  or  to  offer  an  odd  prayer,  which  at 
the  time  may  have  a  queer  look  even  to  yourself;  but 
it  will  be  all  explained  to  you  afterwards,  when  some- 


60  TliE  SOUL-WINNER. 

one  comes  to  tell  you  that  he  never  understood  the 
truth  until  you  put  it  that  day  in  such  an  unusual  way. 
You  will  be  more  Hkely  to  feel  this  influence  if  you 
are  thoroughl}^  prepared  by  study  and  prayer  for  your 
work  in  the  pulpit,  and  I  urge  you  always  to  make  all 
due  preparation,  and  even  to  write  out  in  full  what 
you  think  you  ought  to  say ;  but  not  to  go  and  deliver 
it  7nej?ioriter,  like  a  poll  parrot  repeating  what  it  has 
been  taught,  for  if  you  do  that,  you  will  certainly  not 
be  leaving  yourself  to  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
I  have  no  doubt  you  will  sometimes  feel  that  there 
is  a  passage  that  you  must  put  in,  a  fine  piece  by  one 
of  the  British  poets,  or  a  choice  extract  from  some 
classic  author.  I  do  not  suppose  you  would  like  it  to 
be  known;  but  you  did  read  it  to  a  College  friend. 
Of  course,  you  did  not  ask  him  to  praise  it,  because 
you  felt  sure  that  he  could  not  help  doing  so.  There 
was  one  particular  piece  in  it  that  you  have  very  sel- 
dom heard  equalled;  you  are  sure  that  Mr.  Punshon 
or  Dr.  Parker  could  not  have  done  better  than  that. 
You  are  quite  certain  that,  when  the  people  hear  that 
sermon,  they  will  be  obliged  to  feel  that  there  is 
something  in  it.  It  may  be,  however,  that  the  Lord 
will  consider  that  it  is  too  good  to  be  blessed,  there  is 
too  much  in  it;  it  is  like  the  host  of  men  that  were 
with  Gideon,  they  were  too  many  for  the  Lord,  He 
could  not  give  the  Midianites  into  their  hands,  lest 
they  should  vaunt  themselves  against  Him,  saying, 
"Our  own  might  hath  gotten  us  the  victory."  When 
twenty-two  thousand  of  them  had  been  sent  away,  the 
Lord  said  to  Gideon,  "The  people  are  yet  too  many," 
and  all  of  them  had  to  be  sent  home  except  the  three 
hundred  men  that  lapped,  and  then  the  Lord  said  to 
Gideon,  "Arise,  get  thee  down  unto  the  host;  for  I 
have  delivered  it  into  thine  hand."    So  the  Lord  says 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WINNING.  61 

about  some  of  your  sermons,  "I  cannot  do  any  good 
with  them,  they  are  too  big."  There  is  that  one  with 
the  fourteen  subdivisions;  leave  seven  of  them  out, 
and  then  perhaps  the  Lord  will  bless  it.  Some  day 
it  may  happen,  just  when  you  are  in  the  middle  of 
your  discourse,  that  a  thought  will  come  across  your 
mind,  and  you  will  say  to  yourself,  "Now,  if  I  utter 
this,  that  old  deacon  will  make  it  hot  for  me;  and 
there  is  a  gentleman  just  come  in  who  keeps  a  school, 
lie  is  a  critic,  and  will  be  sure  not  to  be  pleased  if 
I  say  this;  and  besides,  there  is  here  a  remnant 
according  to  the  election  of  grace,  and  the  'hyper' 
up  in  the  gallery  will  give  me  one  of  those  heavenly 
looks  that  are  so  full  of  meaning."  Now,  brother, 
feel  ready  to  say  just  anything  that  God  gives  you  to 
say,  irrespective  of  all  the  consequences,  and  utterly 
regardless  of  what  the  "hypers"  or  the  lowpers  or  any- 
body else  will  think  or  do. 

One  of  the  principal  qualifications  of  a  great  artist's 
brush  must  be  its  yielding  itself  up  to  him  so  that  he 
can  do  what  he  likes  with  it.  A  harpist  will  love  to 
play  on  one  particular  harp  because  he  knows  the 
instrument,  and  the  instrument  almost  appears  to 
know  him.  So,  when  God  puts  His  hand  upon  the 
very  strings  of  your  being,  and  every  power  within 
you  seems  to  respond  to  the  movements  of  His  hand, 
you  are  an  instrument  that  He  can  use.  It  is  not  easy 
to  keep  in  that  condition,  to  be  in  such  a  sensitive 
state  that  you  receive  the  impression  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  desires  to  convey,  and  are  influenced  by  Him  at 
once.  If  there  is  a  great  ship  out  at  sea,  and  there 
comes  a  tiny  ripple  on  the  waters,  it  is  not  moved  by 
it  in  the  least.  Here  comes  a  moderate  wave,  the  ves- 
sel does  not  feel  it,  the  Great  Eastern  sits  still  upon 
the  bosom  of  the  deep.     But  just  look  over  the  bul- 


C2  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

warks;  see  those  corks  down  there,  if  only  a  fly  drops 
into  the  water,  they  feel  the  motion,  and  dance  upon 
the  tiny  wave.  May  you  be  as  mobile  beneath  the 
power  of  God  as  the  cork  is  on  the  surface  of  the 
sea!  I  am  sure  this  self-surrender  is  one  of  the  essen- 
tial qualifications  for  a  preacher  who  is  to  be  a  win- 
ner of  souls.  There  is  something  that  must  be  said 
if  you  are  to  be  the  means  of  saving  that  man  in 
the  corner;  woe  unto  you  if  you  are  not  ready  to 
say  it,  woe  unto  you  if  you  are  afraid  to  say  it,  woe 
unto  you  if  you  are  ashamed  to  say  it,  woe  unto  you 
if  you  do  not  dare  to  say  it  lest  somebody  up  in  the 
gallery  should  say  that  you  were  too  earnest,  too 
enthusiastic,  too  zealous! 

These  seven  things,  I  think,  are  the  qualifications, 
Godward,  which  would  strike  the  mind  of  any  of  you 
if  you  tried  to  put  yourself  into  the  position  of  the 
Most  High,  and  considered  what  you  would  wish  to 
have  in  those  whom  you  employed  in  the  winning  of 
souls.  May  God  give  us  all  of  these  qualifications, 
for  Christ's  sake!    Amen. 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WINNING 
MANWARD. 


QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  SOUL-WIN- 
N1NG--MANWARD. 


You  remember,  brethren,  that  on  the  last  occa- 
sion when  I  gave  you  a  lecture  on  soul-winning,  I 
spoke  of  the  qualifications,  Godward,  that  would  fit  a 
man  to  be  a  soul-winner;  and  I  tried  to  describe  to 
you  the  kind  of  a  man  that  the  Lord  was  most  likely  to 
use  in  the  winning  of  souls.  This  afternoon,  I  pro- 
pose to  take  as  my  subject — 

THE    CHARACTERISTICS    OF    A    SOUL-WINNER, 
MANWARD. 

I  might  almost  mention  the  very  same  points  that  I 
enumerated  before  as  being  those  which  will  best  tell 
manward,  for  I  do  think  that  those  qualities  that  com- 
mend themselves  to  the  notice  of  God,  as  being  most 
adapted  to  the  end  He  desires,  are  also  likely  to  be 
approved  by  the  object  acted  upon,  that  is,  the  soul 
of  man. 

There  have  been  many  men  in  the  world  who  have 
not  been  at  all  adapted  for  this  work;    and,  first,  let  , 

me  say  that  anigjio-amus  is  not  likely  to  he  much  of  a  J 
soul-winner.  A  man  who  only  knows  that  he  is  a 
sinner,  and  that  Christ  is  a  Saviour,  may  be  very  use- 
ful to  others  in  the  same  condition  as  himself,  and  it 
is  his  duty  to  do  the  best  he  can  with  what  little 
knowledge  he  possesses;   but,  on  the  whole,  T  should 


\^ 


66  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

not  expect  such  a  man  to  be  very  largely  used  in  the 
service  of  God.  If  he  had  enjoyed  a  wider  and  deeper 
experience  of  the  things  of  God,  if  he  had  been  in  the 
highest  sense  a  learned  man  because  taught  of  God, 
he  could  have  used  his  knowledge  for  the  good  of 
others;  but  being  to  a  great  extent  ignorant  of  the 
things  of  God  himself,  I  do  not  see  how  he  can  make 
them  known  to  other  people.  Truly,  there  must  be 
some  light  in  that  candle  which  is  to  lighten  men's 
darkness,  and  there  must  be  some  information  in  that 
man  who  is  to  be  a  teacher  of  his  fellows.  The  man 
who  is  almost  or  altogether  ignorant,  whatever  will 
he  has  to  do  good,  must  be  left  out  of  the  race  of  great 
soul-winners;  he  is  disqualified  from  e-ven  entering  the 
lists,  and  therefore,  let  us  all  ask,  brethren,  that  we 
may  be  well  instructed  in  the  truth  of  God,  that  we 
may  be  able  to  teach  others  also. 

Granted  that  you  are  not  of  the  ignorant  class  to 
which  I  have  been  referring,  but  supposing  that  you 
are  well  instructed  in  the  best  of  all  wisdom,  what  are 
the  qualities  that  you  must  have  towards  men  if  you  are 
to  win  them  for  the  Lord?  I  should  say,  there  must 
be  about  us  afi  evident  sincerity  ;  not  only  sincerity,  but 
such  sincerity  that  it  shall  be  manifest  at  once  to  any- 
one who  honestly  looks  for  it.  It  must  be  quite  clear 
to  your  hearers  that  you  have  a  firm  belief  in  the 
truths  that  you  are  preaching;  otherwise,  you  will  never 
make  them  believe  them.  Unless  they  are  convinced, 
beyond  all  question,  that  you  do  believe  these  truths 
yourselves,  there  will  be  no  ef^ficacy  and  no  force  in 
your  preaching.  No  one  must  suspect  you  of  proclaim- 
ing to  others  what  you  do  not  fully  beheve  in  yourself; 
if  it  should  ever  be  so,  your  work  will  be  of  no  efifect. 
All  who  listen  to  you  ought  to  be  conscious  that  you 
are  exercising  one  of  the  noblest  crafts,  and  perform- 


\ 


QUALIFICATIONS    FOR    SOUL-WINNING.  67 

ing  one  of  the  most  sacred  functions  that  ever  fell  to 
the  lot  of  man.  If  you  have  only  a  feeble  appreciation 
of  the  gospel  you  profess  to  deliver,  it  is  impossible  for 
those  who  hear  your  proclamation  of  it  to  be  greatlx 
influenced  by  it.  I  heard  it  asked,  the  other  day,  of  a 
certain  minister,  '*Did  he  preach  a  good  sermon?" 
and  the  reply  to  the  enquiry  was,  "What  he  said  was 
very  good."  "But  did  you  not  profit  by  the  sermon?" 
"No,  not  in  the  slightest  degree."  "Was  it  not  a  good 
sermon?"  Again  came  the  first  answer,  "What  he  said 
was  very  good."  "What  do  you  mean?  Why  did 
you  not  profit  by  the  sermon  if  what  the  preacher  said 
was  very  good?"  This  was  the  explanation  that  the 
listener  gave,  "I  did  not  profit  by  the  discourse  because 
I  did  not  believe  in  the  man  who  delivered  it;  he  was 
simply  an  actor  performing  a  part;  I  did  not  believe 
that  he  felt  what  he  preached,  nor  that  he  cared 
w^hether  we  felt  or  believed  it  or  not." 

Where  such  a  state  of  things  as  that  exists,  the 
hearers  cannot  be  expected  to  profit  by  the  sermon, 
no  matter  what  the  preacher  may  say;  they  may  try 
to  fancy  that  the  truths  he  utters  are  precious,  they 
may  resolve  that  they  will  feed  upon  the  provision 
whoever  may  set  the  dish  before  them;  but  it  is  no 
use,  they  cannot  do  it,  they  cannot  separate  the  heart- 
less speaker  from  the  message  he  delivers  so  carelessly. 
As  soon  as  a  man  lets  his  work  become  a  matter  of 
mere  form  or  routine,  it  sinks  into  a  performance  in 
which  the  preacher  is  simply  an  actor.  He  is  only 
acting  a  part,  as  he  might  in  a  play  at  the  theatre;  and 
not  speaking  from  his  inmost  soul,  as  a  man  sent  from 
God.  I  do  beseech  you,  brethren,  speak  from  your 
hearts,  or  else  do  not  speak  at  all.  If  you  can  be 
silent,  be  silent;  but  if  you  must  speak  for  God,  be 
thoroughly  sincere  about  it.     It  would  be  better  for 


68  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

you  to  go  back  to  business,  and  weigh  butter  or  sell 
reels  of  cotton,  or  do  anything  rather  than  pretend  to 
be  ministers  of  the  gospel  unless  God  has  called  you 
to  the  work.  I  believe  that  the  most  damnable  thing 
a  man  can  do  is  to  preach  the  gospel  merely  as  an 
actor,  and  to  turn  the  worship  of  God  into  a  kind  of 
theatrical  performance.  Such  a  caricature  is  more 
worthy  of  the  devil  than  of  God.  Divine  truth  is  far 
too  precious  to  be  made  the  subject  of  such  a  mockery. 
You  may  depend  upon  it  that,  when  the  people  once 
suspect  that  you  are  insincere,  they  will  never  listen 
to  you  except  with  disgust,  and  they  will  not  be  at  all 
likely  to  believe  your  message  if  you  give  them  cause 
to  think  that  you  do  not  believe  it  yourselves. 

I  hope  I  am  not  wrong  in  supposing  that  all  of  us 
are  thoroughly  sincere  in  our  Master's  service;  so  I 
will  go  on  to  what  seems  to  be  to  me  the  next 
qualification,  manward,  for  soul-winning,  and  that  is, 
evident  earnestness.  The  command  to  the  man  who 
would  be  a  true  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is, 
*'Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength,  and 
with  all  thy  mind."  If  a  man  is  to  be  a  soul-winner, 
there  must  be  in  him  intensity  of  emotion  as  well  as 
sincerity  of  heart.  You  may  preach  the  most  solemn 
warnings,  and  the  most  dreadful  threatenings,  in  such 
an  indifferent  or  careless  way  that  no  one  will  be  in 
the  least  affected  by  them;  and  you  may  repeat  the 
most  affectionate  exhortations  in  such  a  half-hearted 
manner  that  no  one  will  be  moved  either  to  love  or 
fear.  I  believe,  brethren,  that  for  soul-winning  there 
is  more  in  this  matter  of  earnestness  than  in  almost  any- 
thing else.  I  have  seen  and  heard  some  who  were  very 
poor  preachers,  who  yet  brought  many  souls  to  the 
Saviour  through  the  earnestness  with  which  they  de- 


QUALIFICATIONS    FOR   SOUL-WINNING.  69 

livered  their  message.  There  was  positively  nothing 
in  their  sermons  (until  the  provision  merchant  used 
them  to  wrap  round  his  butter),  yet  those  feeble  ser- 
mons brought  many  to  Christ.  It  was  not  what  the 
preachers  said,  so  much  as  how  they  said  it,  that  carried 
conviction  to  the  hearts  of  their  hearers.  The  simplest 
truth  was  so  driven  home  by  the  intensity  of  the  utter- 
ance and  emotion  of  the  man  from  whom  it  came 
that  it  told  with  surprising  effect.  If  any  gentleman 
here  would  present  me  with  a  cannon-ball,  say  one 
weighing  fifty  or  a  hundred  pounds,  and  let  me  roll  it 
across  the  room;  and  another  would  entrust  me  with 
a  rifle-ball,  and  a  rifle  out  of  which  I  could  fire  it,  I 
know  which  would  be  the  more  effective  of  the  two. 
Let  no  man  despise  the  little  bullet,  for  very  often 
that  is  the  one  that  kills  the  sin,  and  kills  the  sinner, 
too.  So,  brethren,  it  is  not  the  bigness  of  the  words 
you  utter:  it  is  the  force  with  which  you  deliver  them 
that  decides  what  is  to  come  of  the  utterance.  I  have 
heard  of  a  ship  that  was  fired  at  by  the  cannon  in  a  fort, 
but  no  impression  was  made  upon  it  until  the  general 
in  command  gave  the  order  for  the  balls  to  be  made 
red-hot,  and  then  the  vessel  was  sent  to  the  bottom  of 
the  sea  in  three  minutes.  That  is  what  you  must  do  with 
your  sermons,  make  them  red-hot;  never  mind  if  men 
do  say  you  are  too  enthusiastic,  or  even  too  fanatical, 
give  them  red-hot  shot,  there  is  nothing  else  half  as 
good  for  the  purpose  you  have  in  view.  We  do  not 
go  out  snow-balling  on  Sundays,  we  go  fire-balling; 
we  ought  to  hurl  grenades  into  the  enemy's  ranks. 

What  earnestness  our  theme  deserves!  We  have  to 
tell  of  an  earnest  Saviour,  an  earnest  heaven,  and  an 
earnest  hell.  How  earnest  we  ought  to  be  when  we 
remember  that  in  our  work  we  have  to  deal  with  souls 
that  are  immortal,  wdth  sin  that  is  eternal  in  its  effects, 


70  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

with  pardon  that  is  infinite,  and  with  terrors  and  joys 
that  are  to  last  for  ever  and  ever!  A  man  who  is  not 
in  earnest  when  he  has  such  a  theme  as  this, — can  he 
possess  a  heart  at  all?  Could  one  be  discovered  even 
with  a  microscope?  If  he  were  dissected,  probably 
all  that  could  be  found  would  be  a  pebble,  a  heart  of 
stone,  or  some  other  substance  equally  incapable  of 
emotion.  I  trust  that,  when  God  gave  us  hearts  of 
flesh  for  ourselves,  He  gave  us  hearts  that  could  feel 
for  other  people  also. 

These  things  being  taken  for  granted,  I  should  say, , 
next,  that  it  is  necessary  for  a  man  who  is  to  be  a  soul-  I  / 
winner,  that  he  should  have  an  evident  love  to  his  \j 
hearers.  I  cannot  imagine  a  man  being  a  winner  of 
souls  when  he  spends  most  of  his  time  in  abusing  his 
congregation,  and  talking  as  if  he  hated  the  very  sight 
of  them.  Such  men  seem  happy  only  when  they  are 
emptying  vials  of  wrath  over  those  who  have  the  unhap- 
piness  of  listening  to  them.  I  heard  of  a  brother 
preaching  from  the  text,  "A  certain  man  went  down 
from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho,  and  fell  among  thieves." 
He  began  his  discourse  thus,  '1  do  not  say  that  this 
man  came  to  the  place  where  w^e  are,  but  I  do  know 
another  man  who  did  come  to  this  place,  and  fell 
among  thieves."  You  can  easily  guess  what  would 
be  the  result  of  such  vitriol-throwing.  I  know  of  one 
who  preached  from  the  passage,  ''And  Aaron  held 
his  peace,"  and  one  who  heard  him  said  that  the 
difference  between  him  and  Aaron  was,  that  Aaron 
held  his  peace,  and  the  preacher  did  not;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  he  raved  at  the  people  with  all  his  might. 

You  must  have  a  real  desire  for  the  good  of  the 
people  if  you  are  to  have  much  influence  over  them. 
Why,  even  dogs  and  cats  love  the  people  who  love 
them,  and  human  beings  are  much  the  same  as  these 


QUALIFICATIONS    FOR    SOUL-WINNING.  71 

dumb  animals.  Teople  very  soon  get  to  know  when 
a  cold  man  gets  into  the  pulpit,  one  of  those  who  seem 
to  have  been  carved  out  of  a  block  of  marble.  There 
have  been  one  or  two  of  our  brethren  of  that  kind, 
and  they  have  never  succeeded  anywhere.  When  1 
have  asked  the  cause  of  their  failure,  in  each  case  the 
reply  has  been,  "He  is  a  good  man,  a  very  good  man ; 
he  preaches  w^ell,  very  well,  but  still  we  do  not  get  on 
wnth  him."  I  have  asked,  *'Why  do  you  not  like  him?" 
The  reply  has  been,  "Xobody  ever  did  like  him."  "Is 
he  quarrelsome?"  "Oh!  dear  no,  I  wish  he  would 
make  a  row."  I  try  to  fish  out  what  the  drawback 
is,  for  I  am  very  anxious  to  know,  and  at  last  some- 
one says,  "Well,  sir,  I  do  not  think  he  has  any  heart; 
at  least,  he  does  not  preach  and  act  as  if  he  had  any." 
It  is  very  sad  when  the  failure  of  any  ministry  is 
caused  by  want  of  heart.  You  ought  to  have  a  great 
big  heart,  like  the  harbour  at  Portsmouth  or  Plymouth, 
so  that  all  the  people  in  your  congregation  could  come 
and  cast  anchor  in  it,  and  feel  that  they  were  under 
the  lee  of  a  great  rock.  Do  you  not  notice  that  men 
succeed  in  the  ministry,  and  win  souls  for  Christ,  just  in 
proportion  as  they  are  men  with  large  hearts?  Think, 
for  instance,  of  Dr.  Brock;  there  was  a  mass  of  a  man, 
one  who  had  bow^els  of  compassion;  and  wh^t  is  the 
good  of  a  minister  who  has  not?  I  do  not  hold  up 
the  accumulation  of  flesh  as  an  object  worthy  of  your 
attainment;  but  I  do  say  that  you  must  have  big  hearts, 
if  you  are  to  win  men  to  Jesus;  you  must  be  Great- 
hearts  if  you  are  to  lead  many  pilgrims  to  the  Celestial 
City.  I  have  seen  some  very  lean  men  who  said  that 
they  w^ere  perfectly  holy,  and  I  could  almost  believe 
that  they  could  not  sin,  for  they  were  like  old  bits  of 
leather,  there  did  not  appear  to  be  anything  in  them 
that  was  capable  of  sinning.    I  met  one  of  these  "per- 


72  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

feet"  brethren  once,  and  he  was  just  Hke  a  piece  of 
sea-weed,  there  was  no  humanity  in  him.  I  like  to 
see  a  trace  of  humanity  somewhere  or  other  about  a 
man,  and  people  in  general  like  it,  too;  they  get  on 
better  with  a  man  who  has  some  human  nature  in 
him.  Human  nature,  in  some  aspects,  is  an  awful 
thing;  but  when  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  took  it,  and 
joined  his  own  divine  nature  to  it,  He  made  a  grand 
thing  of  it,  and  human  nature  is  a  noble  thing  when 
it  is  united  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Those  men 
who  keep  themselves  to  themselves,  like  hermits,  and 
live  a  supposed  sanctified  life  of  self-absorption,  are 
not  likely  to  have  any  influence  in  the  world,  or  to  do 
good  to  their  fellow-creatures.  You  must  love  the 
people,  and  mix  with  them,  if  you  are  to  be  of  service 
to  them.  There  are  some  ministers  who  really  are 
much  better  men  than  others,  yet  they  do  not  accom- 
plish so  much  good  as  those  who  are  more  human, 
those  who  go  and  sit  down  with  the  people,  and  make 
themselves  as  much  as  possible  at  home  with  them. 
You  know,  brethren,  that  it  is  possible  for  you  to 
appear  to  be  just  a  wee  bit  too  good,  so  that  people 
will  feel  that  you  are  altogether  transcendental  beings, 
and  fitter  to  preach  to  angels,  and  cherubim,  and  ser- 
aphim, than  to  the  fallen  sons  of  Adam.  Just  be  men 
among  men;  keeping  yourselves  clear  of  all  their 
faults  and  vices,  but  mingling  with  them  in  perfect 
love  and  sympathy,  and  feeling  that  you  would  do 
anything  in  your  power  to  bring  them  to  Christ, 
so  that  you  might  even  say  with  the  apostle 
Paul,  "Though  I  be  free  from  all  men,  yet  have  I 
made  myself  servant  unto  all,  that  I  might  gain  the 
more.  And  unto  the  Jews  I  became  as  a  Jew,  that  I 
might  gain  the  Jews ;  to  them  that  are  under  the  law, 
as  under  the  law,  that  I  might  gain  them  that  are 


QUALIFICATIONS    FOR    SOUL-WINNING.  73 

under  the  law;  to  them  that  are  without  law,  as  with- 
out law,  (being  not  without  law  to  God,  but  under 
the  law  of  Christ,)  that  I  might  gain  them  that  are 
without  law.  To  the  weak  became  I  as  weak,  that 
I  might  gain  the  weak:  I  am  made  all  things  to  all 
men,  that  I  might  by  all  means  save  some." 

The  next  qualification,  manward,  for  soul-winning 
is  evident  unselfisJincss.  A  man  ceases  to  bring  men 
to  Christ  as  soon  as  he  becomes  known  as  a  selfish 
man.  Selfishness  seems  to  be  ingrained  in  some  peo- 
ple; you  see  it  at  the  table  at  home,  in  the  house  of 
God,  everywhere.  When  such  individuals  come  to 
deal  with  a  church  and  congregation,  their  selfishness 
soon  manifests  itself;  they  mean  to  get  all  they  can, 
although  in  the  Baptist  ministry  they  do  not  often 
get  much.  I  hope  each  of  you,  brethren,  will  be  will- 
ing to  say,  ''Well,  let  me  have  but  food  and  raiment, 
and  I  will  be  therewith  content."  If  you  try  to  put 
the  thought  of  money  altogether  away  from  you,  the 
money  will  often  come  back  to  you  doubled;  but  if 
you  seek  to  grab  and  grasp  all,  you  will  very  likely  find 
that  it  will  not  come  to  you  at  all.  Those  who  are 
selfish  in  the  matter  of  salary,  will  be  the  same  in 
everything  else;  they  will  not  want  their  people  to 
know  anybody  who  can  preach  better  than  themselves; 
and  they  cannot  bear  to  hear  of  any  good  work  going 
on  anywhere  except  in  their  ov/n  chapel.  If  there  is 
a  revival  at  another  place,  and  souls  are  being  saved, 
they  say,  with  a  sneer,  "Oh!  yes,  there  are  many  con- 
verts, but  what  are  they?  Where  will  they  be  in  a  few 
months'  time?"  They  think  far  more  of  their  own  gain 
of  one  new  member  per  year  than  of  their  neighbour's 
hundred  at  one  time.  If  your  people  see  that  kind  of 
selfishness  in  you,  you  will  soon  lose  power  over  them ; 
if  you  make  up  your  mind  that  you  will  be  a  great  man. 


74  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

whoever  has  to  be  thrust  on  one  side,  you  will  go  to 
the  cats  as  sure  as  you  are  alive.  What  are  you,  my 
dear  brother,  that  people  should  all  bow  down  and  wor- 
ship you,  and  think  that  in  all  the  world  there  is  none 
beside  you?  I  tell  you  what  it  is;  the  less  you  think 
of  yourself,  the  more  people  will  think  of  you;  and 
the  more  you  think  of  yourself,  the  less  will  people 
think  of  you.  If  any  of  you  have  any  trace  of  selfish- 
ness about  you,  pray  get  rid  of  it  at  once,  or  you  will 
never  be  fit  instruments  for  the  winning  of  souls  for 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Then  I  am  sure  that  another  thing  that  is  wanted  \j 
in  a  soul- winner  is  holiness  of  character.  It  is  no  use 
talking  about  "the  higheriife"  on  Sundays,  and  then 
living  the  lower  life  on  week  days.  A  Christian  min- 
ister must  be  very  careful,  not  only  to  be  innocent 
of  actual  wrong-doing,  but  not  to  be  a  cause  of  offence 
to  the  weak  ones  of  the  flock.  All  things  are  lawful, 
but  all  things  are  not  expedient.  We  ought  never 
to  do  anything  that  we  judge  to  be  wrong,  but  we 
ought  also  to  be  willing  to  abstain  from  things  which 
might  not  be  wrong  in  themselves,  but  which  might 
be  an  occasion  of  stumbling  to  others.  When  people 
see  that  we  not  only  preach  about  holiness,  but  that 
we  are  ourselves  holy  men,  they  will  be  drawn  towards 
holy  things  by  our  character  as  well  as  by  our  preach- 
ing. 

I  think  also  that,  if  we  are  to  be  soul-winners,  there  v 
must  be  about  us  a  seriousness  of  manner.  Some 
brethren  are  serious  by  nature.  There  was  a  gentle- 
man in  a  railway  carriage,  some  time  ago,  who  over- 
heard a  conversation  between  two  of  the  passengers. 
One  of  them  said,  "Well,  now,  I  think  the  Church  of 
Rome  has  great  power,  and  is  likely  to  succeed  with 
the  people,  because  of  the  evident    holiness    of    her 


QUALIFICATIONS    FOR    SOUL-WINNING.  75 

ministers.    There  is,  for  instance,  Cardinal  ,  he 

is  just  Hke  a  skeleton;  through  his  long  fasting  and 
prayers,  he  has  reduced  himself  almost  to  skin  and 
bone.  Whenever  I  hear  him  speak,  I  feel  at  once  the 
force  of  the  holiness  of  the  man.  Now,  look  at  Spur- 
geon,  he  eats  and  drinks  like  an  ordinary  mortal;  I 
would  not  give  a  pin  to  hear  him  preach."  His  friend 
heard  him  very  patiently,  and  then  said  quite  quietly, 
"Did  it  ever  strike  you  that  the  Cardinal's  appear- 
ance was  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  of  his  liver 
being  out  of  order?  I  do  not  think  it  is  grace  that 
makes  him  as  lean  as  he  is,  I  believe  it  is  his  liver." 
So,  there  are  some  brethren  who  are  naturally  of  a 
melancholy  disposition,  they  are  always  very  serious; 
but  in  them  it  is  not  a  sign  of  grace,  it  is  only  an 
indication  that  their  livers  are  out  of  order.  They 
never  laugh,  they  think  it  would  be  wicked  to  do  so; 
but  they  go  about  the  world  increasing  the  misery  of 
human  kind,  which  is  dreadful  enough  without  the 
addition  of  their  unnecessary  portion.  Such  people 
evidently  imagine  that  they  were  predestinated  to  pour 
buckets  of  cold  water  upon  all  human  mirth  and  joy. 
So,  dear  brethren,  if  any  of  you  are  very  serious,  you 
must  not  always  attribute  it  to  grace,  for  it  may  be 
all  owing  to  the  state  of  your  liver. 

The  most  of  us,  however,  are  far  more  inclined  to 
that  laughter  which  doeth  good  like  medicine,  and  we 
shall  need  all  our  cheerfulness,  if  we  are  to  comfort 
and  lift  up  those  who  are  cast  down;  but  we  shall 
never  bring  many  souls  to  Christ,  if  we  are  full  of 
that  levity  which  characterises  some  men.  People  will 
say,  "It  is  all  a  joke;  just  hear  how  those  young  fel- 
lows jest  about  religion,  it  is  one  thing  to  listen  to 
them  when  they  are  in  the  pulpit,  but  it  is  quite  another 
matter  to  listen  to  them  when  thev  are  sitting  round 


76  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

the  supper  table."  I  have  heard  of  a  man  who  was 
dying,  and  he  sent  for  the  minister  to  come  and  see 
him.  When  the  minister  came  in,  the  dying  man  said 
to  him,  "Do  you  remember  a  young  man  walking 
with  you  one  evening,  some  years  ago,  when  you  were 
going  out  to  preach?"  He  said,  he  did  not.  "I  recol- 
lect it  very  well,"  replied  the  other.  "Do  you  not 
remember  preaching  at  such-and-such  a  village,  from 
such-and-such  a  text,  and  after  the  service  a  young 
man  walked  home  with  you?"  "Oh,  yes,  I  remember 
that  very  well!"  "Well,  I  am  the  young  man  who 
walked  home  with  you  that  night;  I  remember  your 
sermon,  I  shall  never  forget  it."  "Thank  God  for  that," 
said  the  preacher.  "No,"  answered  the  dying  man, 
"you  will  not  thank  God  when  you  have  heard  all  I 
have  to  say.  I  walked  with  you  to  the  village,  but 
you  did  not  say  much  to  me  on  the  way  there,  for  you 
were  thinking  over  your  sermon ;  you  deeply  impressed 
me  while  you  were  preaching,  and  I  was  led  to  think 
about  giving  my  heart  to  Christ.  I  wanted  to  speak 
to  you  about  my  soul  on  the  way  home;  but  the 
moment  you  got  out  you  cracked  a  joke,  and  all  the 
way  back  you  made  such  fun  upon  serious  subjects, 
that  I  could  not  say  anything  about  what  I  felt,  and 
it  thoroughly  disgusted  me  with  religion,  and  all  who 
professed  it,  and  now  I  am  going  to  be  damned,  and 
my  blood  will  lie  at  your  door,  as  sure  as  you  are 
alive:"  and  so  he  passed  out  of  the  world.  One  would 
not  like  anything  of  that  sort  to  happen  to  himself; 
therefore,  take  heed,  brethren,  that  you  give  no  occa- 
sion for  it.  There  must  be  a  prevailing  seriousness 
about  out  whole  lives,  otherwise  we  cannot  hope  to 
lead  other  men  to  Christ. 

Finally  if  we  are  to  be  much  used  of  God  as  soul- 
winners,  there  must  be  in  our  hearts  a  great  deal  o^ 


QUALIFICATIONS    FOR    SOUL-WINNING.  77 

tetidnyicss;  I  like  a  man  to  have  a  due  amount  of 
holy  boldness,  but  I  do  not  care  to  see  him  brazen- 
faced and  impudent.  A  young  man  goes  into  a  pulpit, 
apologizes  for  attempting  to  preach,  and  hopes  the 
people  will  bear  with  him;  he  does  not  know  that  he 
has  anything  particular  to  say,  if  the  Lord  had  sent 
him  he  might  have  had  some  message  for  them,  but 
he  feels  himself  so  young  and  inexperienced  that  he 
cannot  speak  very  positively  about  anything.  Such 
talk  as  that  will  never  save  a  mouse,  much  less  an 
immortal  soul.  If  the  Lord  has  sent  you  to  preach 
the  gospel,  why  should  you  make  any  apologies? 
Ambassadors  do  not  apologise  when  they  go  to  a 
foreign  court;  they  know  that  their  monarch  has  sent 
them,  and  they  deliver  their  message  with  all  the 
authority  of  king  and  country  at  their  back.  Nor  is 
it  worth  while  for  you  to  call  attention  to  your  youth. 
You  are  only  a  trumpet  of  ram's  horn;  and  it  does 
not  matter  whether  you  were  pulled  ofif  the  ram's  head 
yesterday,  or  five-and-twenty  years  ago.  If  God  blows 
through  you,  there  will  be  noise  enough,  and  something 
more  than  noise;  if  He  does  not,  nothing  will  come  of 
the  blowing.  When  you  preach  speak  out  straight, 
but  be  very  tender  about  it;  and  if  there  is  an  unpleas- 
ant thing  to  be  said,  take  care  that  you  put  it  in  the 
kindest  possible  form.  Some  of  our  brethren  had  a 
message  to  deliver  to  a  certain  Christian  brother,  and 
when  they  went  to  him  they  put  it  so  awkwardly  that 
he  was  grievously  offended.  When  I  spoke  to  him 
about  the  same  matter,  he  said,  "I  would  not  have 
minded  your  speaking  to  me;  you  have  a  way  of  put- 
ting an  unpleasant  truth  so  that  a  man  cannot  be 
offended  with  you  however  much  he  may  dislike  the 
message  you  bring  to  him."  "Well,  but,"  I  said,  "I 
put  the  matter  just  as  strongly  as  the  other  brethren 


78  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

did."  "Yes,  you  did,"  he  replied,  "but  they  said  it 
in  such  a  nasty  kind  of  a  way  that  I  would  not  stand 
it.  Why,  sir,  I  had  rather  be  blown  up  by  you  than 
praised  by  those  other  people!"  There  is  a  way  of 
doing  such  things  so  that  the  person  reproved  feels 
positively  grateful  to  you.  One  may  kick  a  man  down- 
stairs in  such  a  fashion  that  he  will  rather  like  it;  while 
another  may  open  a  door  in  such  an  ofTensWe  way 
that  you  do  not  want  to  go  througlj  till  he  is  out  of 
the  way.  Now,  if  I  have  to  tell  anyone'-certain  unpal- 
atable truths  which  it  is  necessary  that  he  should  know 
if  his  soul  is  to  be  saved,  it  is  a  stern  necessity  for  me 
to  be  faithful  to  him;  yet  I  will  try  so  to  dell\:fir  my 
message  that  he  shall  not  be  ofifended  at  it.  Then,  if 
he  does  take  ofifence,  he  must;  the  probability  is  that 
he  will  not,  but  that  what  I  say  will  take  effect  upon 
his  conscience. 

I  know  some  brethren  who  preach  as  if  they  were 
prize-fighters.  When  they  are  in  the  pulpit  they 
remind  me  of  the  Irishman  at  Donnybrook  Fair;  all 
the  way  through  the  sermon  they  appear  to  be  calling 
upon  someone  to  come  up  and  fight  them,  and  they 
are  never  happy  except  when  they  are  pitching  into 
somebody  or  other.  There  is  a  man  who  often 
preaches  on  Clapham  Common,  and  he  does  it  so 
pugnaciously  that  the  infidels  whom  he  assails  cannot 
endure  it,  and  there  are  frequent  fights  and  row^s. 
There  is  a  way  of  preaching  so  as  to  set  everybody 
by  the  ears;  if  some  men  were  allowed  to  preach  in 
heaven,  I  am  afraid  they  would  set  the  angels  fighting. 
I  know  a  number  of  ministers  of  this  stamp.  There 
is  one  who,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  has  been  at  over 
a  dozen  places  during  his  not  very  long  ministerial 
life.  You  can  tell  where  he  has  been  by  the  ruin  he 
leaves  behind  him.     He  always  finds  the  churches  in 


QUALIFICATIONS    FOR    SOUL-V/INNING.  79 

a  sad  state,  and  he  straightway  begins  to  purify  them, 
that  is,  to  destroy  them.     As  a  general  rule,  the  first 
thing,  out  goes  the  principal  deacon,  and  the  next, 
away  go  all  the  leading  families,  and  before  long,  the 
man  has  purified  the  place  so  effectually  that  the  few 
people  who  are  left  cannot  keep  him.     Ofi  he  goes  to 
another  place,  and  repeats  the  process  of  destruction. 
He  is  a  kind  of  spiritual  ship-scuttler,  and  he  is  never 
happy  except  when  he  is  boring  a  hole  through  the 
])lanks  of  some  good  vessel.     He  says  he  believes  the 
ship  is  unsound;   so  he  bores,  and  bores,  until  just  as 
she  is  going  down,  he  slips  off,  and  gets  aboard  another 
vessel,  which  very  soon  sinks  in  the  same   manner. 
He  feels  that  he  is  called  to  the  work  of  separating 
the  precious  from  the  vile,  and  a  preciously  vile  mess 
he  makes  of  it.     I  have  no  reason  to  believe  it  is  the 
condition  of  the  liver  with  this  brother,  it  is  more  likely 
that  there  is  something  wrong  with  his  heart;  certainly, 
there  is  an  evil  disease  upon  him  that  always  makes 
me  get  into  a  bad  temper  with  him.     It  is  dangerous 
to  entertain  him  above  three  days,  for  he  would  quar- 
rel in  that  time  with  the  most  peaceably  disposed  man 
in  the  world.     I  never  mean  to  recommend  him  to  a 
pastorate  again;  let  him  find  a  place  for  himself  if  he 
can,  for  I  believe  that,  wherever  he  goes,  the  place  will 
be  like  the  spot  where  the  foot  of  the  Tartar's  horse 
is  put  down,  the  grass  will  never  again  grow  there. 
If  any  of  you  brethren  have  even  a  little  bit  of  this 
nasty,  bitter  spirit  about  you,  go  to  sea  that  you  may 
get  rid  of  it.     I  hope  it  may  happen  to  you  according 
to  the  legend  which  is  told  concerning  Mahomet.    "In 
every  human  being,"  so  the  story  runs,  "there  are  two 
black  drops  of  sin.    The  great  prophet  himself  was  not 
free  from  the  common  lot  of  evil;   but  an  angel  was 
sent  to  take  his  heart,  and  squeeze  out  of  it  the  two 


80  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

black  drops  of  sin."  Get  those  black  drops  out  some- 
how while  yon  are  in  College;  if  you  have  any  malice, 
or  ill-will,  or  bad  temper  in  you,  pray  the  Lord  to  take 
it  out  of  you  while  you  are  here;  do  not  go  into  the 
churches  to  fight  as  others  have  done. 

''Still,"  says  a  brother,  "I  am  not  going  to  let  the 
people  tread  on  me.  I  shall  take  the  bull  by  the 
horns."  You  will  be  a  great  fool  if  you  do.  I  never 
felt  that  I  was  called  to  do  anything  of  the  kind. 
Why  not  let  the  bull  alone,  to  go  where  he  likes? 
A  bull  is  a  very  likely  creature  to  project  you  into 
space  if  you  get  meddling  with  his  horns.  "Still," 
says  another,  "we  must  set  things  right."  Yes,  but 
the  best  way  to  set  things  right  is  not  to  make  them 
more  wrong  than  they  are.  Nobody  thinks  of  putting 
a  mad  bull  into  a  china  shop  in  order  to  get  the  china 
cleaned,  and  no  one  can  by  a  display  of  evil  temper 
set  right  anything  that  is  wrong  in  our  churches. 
Take  care  always  to  speak  the  truth  in  love,  and 
especially  when  you  are  rebuking  sin. 

I  believe,  brethren,  that  soul-winning  is  to  be  done 
by  men  of  the  character  I  have  been  describing;  and 
most  of  all  will  this  be  the  case  when  they  are 
surrounded  by  people  of  a  similar  character.  You 
want  to  get  the  very  atmosphere  in  which  you  live 
and  labour  permeated  with  this  spirit  before  you  can 
rightly  expect  the  fullest  and  richest  blessings.  There- 
fore, may  you  and  all  your  people  be  all  that  I  have 
pictured,  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ's  sake !    Amen. 


SERMONS  LIKELY  TO  WIN  SOULS 


SERMONS  LIKELY  TO  WIN 
SOULS. 


This  afternoon,  brethren,  I  am  going  to  speak  to 
you  about — 

THE   KIND   OF   SERMONS  THAT  ARE   MOST   LIKELY 
TO  CONVERT  PEOPLE, 

the  sort  of  discourses  we  should  deHver  if  we 
really  want  our  hearers  to  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  to  be  saved.  Of  course,  we  are  all  perfectly 
agreed  that  the  Holy  Spirit  alone  can  convert  a  soul; 
none  can  enter  the  kingdom  of  God  except  they 
are  born  again  from  above.  All  the  work  is  done  by 
the  Holy  Spirit;  and  we  must  not  take  to  ourselves 
any  part  of  the  credit  for  the  result  of  the  work,  for  it 
is  the  Spirit  who  new-creates  and  works  in  man 
according  to  the  eternal  purpose  of  God. 

Still,  we  may  be  instruments  in  His  hands,  for  He 
chooses  to  use  instruments,  and  He  chooses  them 
for  wise  reasons.  There  must  be  an  adaptation 
of  means  to  the  end,  as  there  was  with  David  when 
he  went  forth  with  the  sling  and  stone  to  slay  Goliath 
of  Gath.  Goliath  was  a  tall  fellow,  but  a  stone  from 
a  sling  can  mount;  and,  besides,  the  giant  was  armed 
and  protected,  and  scarcely  vulnerable  except  in  his 
forehead,  so  that  was  the  very  place  to  hit  him.  Though 


84  TkE  SOUL-WINNER. 

David  took  a  sling,  it  was  not  so  much  because  he  had 
no  other  weapon  as  that  he  had  practised  shnging,  as 
most  boys  do  in  some  form  or  other;  and  then  he 
cliose  a  smooth  stone  because  he  knew  it  would  fit 
the  sling.  He  took  the  right  kind  of  stone  to  enter 
Goliath's  head,  so,  when  he  slung  it  at  the  giant,  it 
struck  him  in  the  forehead,  penetrated  his  brain,  and 
he  sank  down  to  the  ground. 

You  will  find  that  this  principle  of  adaptation  runs 
through  the  whole  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  a  man 
is  wanted  to  be  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  the  Holy 
Spirit  selects  the  large-minded,  well-trained,  highly- 
educated  Paul,  for  he  was  more  fit  for  such  work  than 
was  the  somewhat  narrow  though  strong-minded  Peter, 
who  was  better  suited  for  preaching  to  the  Jews,  and 
who  was  of  far  more  use  to  the  circumcision  than  he 
ever  could  have  been  among  the  uncircumcision.  Paul 
in  his  place  is  the  right  man,  and  Peter  in  his  place 
is  the  right  man.  You  may  see  in  this  principle  a  les- 
son for  yourselves,  and  seek  to  adapt  your  means  to 
your  end.  God  the  Holy  Spirit  can  convert  a  soul 
by  any  text  of  Scripture  apart  from  your  paraphrase, 
your  comment,  your  exposition ;  but  there  are  certain 
Scripture  passages,  as  you  know,  that  are  the  best  to 
bring  before  the  minds  of  sinners,  and  if  this  is  true 
about  your  texts,  much  more  is  it  so  in  your  discourses 
to  your  hearers.  As  to  which  sermons  are  most  likely 
to  be  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  those  to  whom  they 
are  preached,  I  should  say:  I 

First,  they  are  those  sei-mons  wJiich  are  distiuctlx  \ 
aimed  at  the  cofiversion  of  the  hearers.  I  heard  a 
prayer,  some  time  ago,  from  a  minister  who  asked 
the  Lord  to  save  souls  by  the  sermon  he  was  about 
to  deliver.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  God  Him- 
self could  not  bless  the  sermon  to  that  end  unless  He 


SERMONS    LIKELY   TO   WIN    SOULS.  85 

made  tlic  people  misunderstand  all  that  the  preacher 
said  to  them,  because  the  whole  discourse  was  rather 
calculated  to  harden  the  sinner  in  his  sin  than  to  lead 
liim  to  renounce  it,  and  to  seek  the  Saviour.  There 
was  nothing  in  it  that  could  be  blessed  to  any  hearer 
unless  he  turned  it  inside  out  or  bottom  upwards.  The 
sermon  did  me  good  on  the  principle  that  was  applied 
by  a  good  old  lady  to  the  minister  she  was  obliged 
to  hear.  When  asked,  "Why  do  you  go  to  such  a 
place?"  she  replied,  "Well,  there  is  no  other  place  of 
worship  to  which  I  can  go."  ''But  it  must  be  better 
to  stay  at  home  tlian  to  hear  such  stuff,"  said  her 
friend.  "Perhaps  so,"  she  answered,  "but  I  like  to  go 
out  to  worship  even  if  I  get  nothing  by  going.  You 
see  a  hen  sometimes  scratching  all  over  a  heap  of  rub- 
bish to  try  to  find  some  corn;  she  does  not  get  any, 
but  it  shows  that  she  is  looking  for  it,  and  using  the 
means  to  get  it,  and  then,  too,  the  exercise  warms 
her."  So  the  old  lady  said  that  scratching  over  the 
poor  sermons  she  heard  was  a  blessing  to  her  because 
it  exercised  her  spiritual  faculties,  and  warmed  her 
spirit. 

There  are  sermons  of  such  a  kind  that,  unless  God 
takes  to  ripening  wheat  by  means  of  snow  and  ice,  and 
begins  to  illuminate  the  world  by  means  of  fogs  and 
clouds,  He  cannot  save  souls  under  them.  Why,  the 
preacher  himself  evidently  does  not  think  that  any- 
body will  be  converted  by  them!  If  a  hundred  per- 
sons or  if  half  a  dozen  were  converted  by  them,  no- 
body would  be  so  astonished  as  the  preacher  him- 
self; in  fact,  T  know  a  man  who  was  converted,  or  at 
least  convicted,  under  the  preaching  of  a  minister  of 
that  kind.  In  a  certain  parish  church,  as  the  result 
of  the  clergyman's  preaching,  there  was  a  man  who 
was  under  d^ep  conviction  of  sin.     He  went  down  to 


86  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

see  his  minister,  but  the  poor  man  did  not  know  wdiat 
to  make  of  him,  and  said  to  him,  *'I  am  very  sorry  if 
there  was  anything  in  my  sermon  to  make  you  un- 
comfortable; I  did  not  mean  it  to  be  so."  '  "Well,  sir,'' 
answered  the  troubled  man,  "you  said  that  we  must 
be  born  again."  "Oh!"  replied  the  clergyman,  ''that 
was  all  done  in  baptism.''  "But,  sir,''  said  the  man, 
who  was  not  to  be  put  off,  "you  did  not  say  so  in  your 
sermon;  you  spoke  of  the  necessity  of  regeneration." 
"Well,  I  am  very  sorry  I  said  anything  to  make  you 
uncomfortable,  for  really  I  think  all- is  right  with  you. 
You  are  a  good  sort  of  a  fellow;  you  w^ere  never  a 
poacher,  or  anything  else  that  is  bad.''  "That  may 
be,  sir,  but  I  have  a  sense  of  sin,  and  you  said  we 
must  be  new  creatures.''  "Well,  w^ell,  my  good  man," 
at  last  said  the  perplexed  parson,  "I  do  not  understand 
such  things;  I  never  was  born  again."  He  sent  him 
to  the  Baptist  minister,  and  the  man  is  now  himself  a 
Baptist  minister,  partly  as  the  result  of  wdiat  he  learned 
from  the  preacher  who  did  not  himself  understand  the 
truth  he  had  declared  to  others. 

Of  course,  God  can  convert  a  soul  by  such  a  sermon 
as  that,  and  by  such  a  minister  as  that,  but  it  is  not 
likely;  it  is  more  probable  that,  in  His  infinite  sov- 
ereignty, He  will  work  in  a  place  where  a  w^arm-heart- 
ed  man  is  preaching  to  men  the  truth  that  he  has  him- 
self received,  all  the  while  earnestly  desiring  their  salva- 
tion, and  ready  to  guide  them  further  in  the  ways  of 
the  Lord  as  soon  as  ever  they  are  saved.  God  does 
not  usually  lay  His  new^-born  children  down  amongst 
people  where  the  new  life  will  not  be  understood,  or 
where  it  will  be  left  without  any  proper  nurture  or  care ; 
so,  brethren,  If  you  want  your  hearers  to  be  converted, 
you  must  just  see  that  your  preaching  aims  directly  at 
conversion,  and  that  it  is  such  as  God  will  be  likely 


SERMONS   LIKELY   TO  WIN  SOULS.  87 

to  bless  to  that  end.  When  that  is  the  case,  then  look 
for  souls  to  be  saved,  and  look  for  a  great  number  of 
them,  too.  Do  not  be  satisfied  when  a  single  soul  is 
converted.  Remember  that  the  rule  of  the  kingdom 
is,  "According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you."  I  said 
last  night,  in  my  sermon  in  the  Tabernacle,  that  I 
was  glad  it  was  not  written,  ^'According  to  thine  un- 
belief, so  be  it  unto  thee."  If  there  be  in  us  a  great 
faith,  God  will  give  us  blessing  according  to  our  faith. 
Oh,  that  we  were  altogether  rid  of  unbelief,  that  w^e 
believed  great  things  of  God,  and  with  heart  and  soul 
so  preached  that  men  were  likely  to  be  converted  by 
such  discourses,  proclaiming  truths  likely  to  convert 
them,  and  declaring  them  in  a  manner  that  would  be 
likely  to  be  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  our  hearers! 
Of  course,  all  the  wdiile  we  must  be  trusting  to  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  make  the  work  effectual,  for  we  are 
but  the  instruments  in  His  hands. 

But  coming  a  little  closer  to  our  subject,  if  the  peo-  :  / 
pie  are  to  be  saved,  it  must  be  by  sermons  that  inter-  ^ 
est  them.  You  have  first  to  get  them  to  come  under  the 
sound  of  the  gospel,  for  there  is,  at  all  events  in  Lon- 
don, a  great  aversion  to  a  place  of  worship,  and  I  am 
not  much  surprised  that  it  is  so  concerning  many 
churches  and  chapels.  I  think,  in  many  instances,  the 
common  people  do  not  attend  such  services  because 
they  do  not  understand  the  theological  "lingo"  that 
is  used  in  the  pulpit;  it  is  neither  English,  nor  Greek, 
but  Double-dutch ;  and  when  a  working  man  goes  once 
and  listens  to  these  fine  words,  he  says  to  his  w4fe,  "I 
do  not  go  there  again,  Sal;  there  is  nothing  there  for 
me,  nor  yet  for  you;  there  may  be  a  good  deal  for  a 
gentleman  that's  been  to  College,  but  there  is  nothing 
for  the  likes  of  us."  No,  brethren,  we  must  preach  in 
what  Whitcfield  used  to  call  ''market  language"  if  we 


88  TiiE  SOUL-WINNER. 

would  have  all  classes  of  the  community  listening  to 
our  message. 

Then,  when  they  do  come  in,  we  must  preach  in- 
terestingly. The  people  will  not  be  converted  while 
they  are  asleep;  and  if  they  go  to  sleep,  they  had  bet- 
ter have  been  at  home  in  bed,  where  they  would  sleep 
much  more  comfortably.  We  must  have  the  minds 
of  our  hearers  awake  and  active  if  we  are  to  do  them 
real  good.  You  will  not  shoot  your  birds  unless  you 
get  them  to  fly,  you  must  get  them  started  up  from 
the  long  grass  in  which  they  are  hiding.  I  would 
sooner  use  a  little  of  what  some  very  proper  preachers 
regard  as  a  dreadful  thing,  that  wicked  thing  called- 
humour — I  would  sooner  wake  the  congregation  up 
that  way  than  have  it  said  that  I  droned  away  at  them 
until  we  air  went  to  sleep  together.  Sometimes,  it  may 
be  quite  right  to  have  it  said  of  us  as  it  was  said  of 
Rowland  Hill,  "What  does  that  man  mean?  He  actual- 
ly made  the  people  laugh  while  he  was  preaching." 
"Yes,"  was  the  wise  answer,  "but  did  you  not  see  that 
he  made  them  cry  direptly  after?"  That  was  good 
work,  and  it  was  well  done.  I  sometimes  tickle  my 
oyster  until  he  opens  his  shell,  and  then  I  slip  the  knife 
in.  He  would  not  have  opened  for  my  knife,  but  he 
did  for  something  else ;  and  that  is  the  way  to  do  with 
people.  They  must  be  made  to  open  their  eyes,  and 
ears,  and  souls,  somehow;  and  when  you  get  them 
open,  you  must  feel,  "Now  is  my  opportunity;  in  with 
the  knife."  There  is  one  vulnerable  spot  in  the  hides 
of  those  rhinoceros  sinners  that  come  to  hear  you; 
but  take  care  that,  if  you  do  get  a  shot  through  that 
weak  spot,  it  shall  be  a  thorough  gospel  bullet,  for 
nothing  else  will  accomplish  the  w'ork  that  needs  to 
be  done. 

INforeover,  the  people  must  be  interested  to  make 


SERMONS  LIKELY   TO  WIN   SOULS.  89 

them  remember  what  is  saitl.  They  will  not  reeolleet 
what  they  hear  unless  the  subject  interests  them.  They 
forget  our  fine  perorations,  they  cannot  recall  our  very 
pretty  pieces  of  poetry — I  do  not  know  that  they  woulcl 
do  them  any  good  if  they  did  remember  them;  but 
we  must  tell  our  hearers  something  they  will  not  be 
likely  to  forget.  I  believe  in  what  Father  Taylor  calls 
"the  surprise  power  of  a  sermon;"  that  is,  something 
that  is  not  expected  by  those  who  are  listening  to  it. 
Just  when  they  reckon  that  you  are  sure  to  say  some- 
thing very  precise  and  straight,  say  something  awk- 
ward and  crooked,  because  they  wall  remember  that, 
and  you  will  have  tied  a  gospel  knot  where  it  is  likely 
to  remain.  I  remember  reading  of  a  tailor  who  had 
made  his  fortune,  and  he  promised  to  tell  his  brother- 
tailors  how  he  had  done  it.  They  gathered  around  his 
bed  when  he  was  dying,  and  lie  said,  as  they  all  listened 
very  attentively,  "Now  I  am  to  tell  you  how^  you  tailors 
are  to  make  your  fortunes;  this  is  the  way,  always 
put  a  knot  in  your  thread."  I  give  that  same 
advice  to  you  preachers,  ahvays  put  a  knot  in  your 
thread ;  if  there  is  a  knot  in  the  thread,  it  does  not  come 
out  of  the  material.  Some  preachers  put  in  the  needle 
all  right,  but  there  is  no  knot  in  their  thread,  so  it 
passes  through  and  they  have  really  done  nothing  after 
all.  Put  a  good  many  knots  in  your  discourses,  breth- 
ren, so  that  there  may  be  all  the  greater  probability 
that  they  will  remain  in  your  people's  memories.  You 
do  not  want  your  preaching  to  be  like  the  sewing  done 
by  some  machines,  for,  if  one  stitch  breaks,  the  whole 
will  come  undone.  There  ought  to  be  plenty  of  "burrs" 
in  a  sermon — ]\Ir.  Fergusson  will  tell  you  what  "burrs" 
are;  I'll  warrant  you  that  he  has  often  found  them 
clinging  to  his  coat  in  his  bonnie  Scotland.  Put  these 
"burrs"  all  over  the  people;    say  something  that  \v\\\ 


90  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

strike  them,  something  that  will  stick  to  them  for  many 
a  clay,  and  that  will  be  likely  to  bless  them.  I  believe 
that  a  sermon,  under  God's  smile,  is  likely  to  be  t^e 
means  of  conversion  if  it  has  this  peculiarity  about  it, 
that  it  is  interesting  to  the  hearers  as  well  as  directly 
aimed  at  their  salvation. 

The  third  thing  in  a  sermon  that  is  likely  to  winW 
souls  to  Christ  is,  //  miist  be  instructive.  If  people  are  V 
to  be  saved  by  a  discourse,  it  must  contain  at  least  some 
measure  of  knowledge.  There  must  be  hght  as  well 
as  fire.  Some  preachers  are  all  light  and  no  fire,  and 
others  are  all  fire  and  no  light;  what  we  want  is  both 
fire  and  light.  I  do  not  judge  those  brethren  who  are 
all  fire  and  fury;  but  I  wish  they  had  a  little  more 
knowledge  of  what  they  talk  about,  and  I  think  it 
would  be  well  if  they  did  not  begin  quite  so  soon  to 
preach  what  they  hardly  understand  themselves.  It  is 
a  fine  thing  to  stand  up  in  the  street,  and  cry,  "Be- 
lieve! Beheve!  Believe!  BeHeve!  BeHeve!  Believe!" 
Yes,  my  dear  soul,  but  what  have  we  to  believe?  What 
is  all  this  noise  about?  Preachers  of  this  sort  are 
like  a  little  boy  who  had  been  crying,  and  some- 
thing happened  that  stopped  him  in  the  middle  of  his 
cry,  and  presently  he  said,  "Ma,  please  what  was  I  oxy- 
ing  about?"  Emotion,  doubtless,  is  a  very  proper 
thing  in  the  pulpit,  and  the  feeling,  the  pathos,  the 
power  of  heart,  are  good  and  grand  things  in  the  right 
place;  but  do  also  use  your  brains  a  little,  do  tell  us 
something  when  you  stand  up  to  preach  the  everlast- 
ing gospel. 

The  sermons  that  are  most  likely  to  convert  people 
seem  to  me  to  be  those  that  are  full  of  truth,  truth 
about  the  fall,  truth  about  the  law,  truth  about  human 
nature,  and  its  alienation  from  God,  truth  about  Jesus 
Christ,  truth  about  the  Holy  Spirit,  truth  about  the 


SERMONS  LIKELY  TO  WIN  SOULS.  5)1 

Everlasting  Father,  truth  about  the  new  birth,  truth 
about  obedience  to  God,  and  how  we  learn  it,  and  all 
such  great  verities.  Tell  your  hearers  something,  dear 
brethren,  whenever  you  preach,  tell  them  something, 
tell  them  something! 

Of  course,  some  good  may  come,  even  if  your  hearers 
do  not  understand  you.  I  suppose  it  might  be  so,  for 
there  was  a  very  esteemed  lady  speaking  to  the  Friends 
gathered  at  the  Devonshire  House  meeting.  She 
was  a  most  gracious  woman,  and  was  addressing  the 
English  Friends  in  Dutch,  and  she  asked  one  of  the 
brethren  to  translate  for  her,  but  the  hearers  said  there 
was  so  much  power  and  spirit  about  her  speaking, 
though  it  was  in  Dutch,  that  they  did  not  want  it  trans- 
lated, for  they  were  getting  as  much  good  out  of  it  as 
was  possible.  Now,  these  hearers  were  Friends,  and 
they  are  men  of  different  mould  from  me,  for  I  do  not 
mind  how  good  a  woman  the  esteemed  lady  w^as,  I 
should  have  liked  to  know  what  she  was  talking  about, 
and  I  am  sure  I  should  not  have  been  in  the  least  de- 
gree profited  unless  it  had  been  translated;  and  I  like 
ministers  always  to  know  what  they  are  talking  about, 
and  to  be  sure  that  there  is  something  in  it  worth  say- 
ing. Do  try,  therefore,  dear  brethren,  to  give  your 
hearers  something  beside  a  string  of  pathetic  anec- 
dotes that  will  set  them  crying.  Tell  the  people  some- 
thing: you  are  to  teach  them,  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
your  hearers,  to  make  them  understand  as  far  as  you 
can  things  which  should  make  for  their  peace.  We 
cannot  expect  people  to  be  saved  by  our  sermons,  un- 
less we  try  really  to  instruct  them  by  what  we  say  to 
them. 

Fourthly,  the  people  7nust   be   impressed  by  our  ser-'\ 
mofts,    if  they  are   to  be   converted.       They    must    not    ^ 
only  be  interested  and  instructed,  but  they  must  be 


92  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

impressed;  and,  I  believe,  dear  friends,  there  is  a  great 
deal  more  in  impressive  sermons  than  some  people 
think.  In  order  that  you  may  impress  the  Word  upon 
those  to  whom  you  preach,  remember  that  it  must  be 
impressed  upon  yourself  first.  You  must  feel  it  your- 
self, and  speak  as  a  man  who  feels  it,  not  as  if  you 
feel  it,  but  because  you  feel  it,  otherwise  you  will  not 
make  it  felt  by  others.  I  wonder  what  it  must  be  to 
go  up  into  the  pulpit,  and  read  somebody  else's  sermon 
to  the  congregation.  We  read  in  the  Bible  of  one  thing 
that  was  borrowed,  and  the  head  of  that  came  off;  and 
I  am  afraid  that  the  same  thing  often  happens  with 
borrowed  sermons — the  heads  come  ofif.  Men  who 
read  borrowed  sermons  positively  do  not  know  any- 
thing about  our  troubles  of  mind  in  preparing  for  the 
pulpit,  or  our  joy  in  preaching  with  the  aid  of  only 
brief  notes.  A  dear  friend  of  mine,  who  reads  his  own 
sermons,  was  talking  to  me  about  preaching,  and  I  was 
telling  him  how  my  very  soul  is  moved,  and  my  very 
heart  is  stirred  within  me,  when  I  think  of  what  I  shall 
say  to  my  people,  and  afterward  when  I  am  delivering 
my  message;  but  he  said  that  he  never  felt  anything 
of  the  kind  when  he  was  preaching.  He  reminded 
me  of  the  little  girl  who  was  crying  because  her  teeth 
ached,  and  her  grandmother  said  to  her,  ''Lilly,  I 
wonder  you  are  not  ashamed  to  cry  about  such  a  small 
matter."  "Well,  grandmother,"  answered  the  little 
maid,  "it  is  all  very  well  for  you  to  say  that,  for,  when 
your  teeth  ache,  you  can  take  them  out,  but  mine  are 
fixed."  Some  brethren,  when  the  sermon  they  have 
selected  will  not  run  smoothly,  can  go  to  their  box, 
and  take  out  another;  but  when  I  have  a  sermon  full 
of  joy,  and  I  myself  feel  heavy  and  sad,  I  am  utterly 
miserable;  when  I  want  to  beg  and  persuade  men  to 
believe,  and  my  spirit  is  dull  and  cold,  I  feel  wretched 


SERMONS  LIKELY  TO  WIN  SOULS.  i)3 

to  the  last  degree.  My  teeth  ache,  and  I  cannot  take 
them  out,  for  they  are  my  own;  as  my  sermons  are 
my  own,  and  therefore  I  may  expect  to  find  a  good 
deal  of  trouble,  both  in  the  getting  of  them,  and  in  the 
using  of  them. 

I  remember  the  answer  I  received  when  I  once  said 
to  my  venerable  grandfather,  "I  never  have  to  preach, 
but  that  I  feel  terribly  sick,  literally  sick,  I  mean,  so 
that  I  might  as  well  be  crossing  the  Channel,"  and 
I  asked  the  dear  old  man  whether  he  thought  I  should 
ever  get  over  that  feeling.  His  answer  was,  ''Your 
power  will  be  gone  if  you  do."  So,  my  brethren,  when 
it  is  not  so  much  that  you  have  got  a  hold  of  your 
subject,  but  that  it  has  got  a  hold  of  you,  and  you  feel 
its  grip  with  a  terrible  reality  yourself,  that  is  the  kind 
of  sermon  that  is  most  likely  to  make  others  feel.  If 
you  are  not  impressed  with  it  yourself,  you  cannot 
expect  to  impress  others  with  it;  so  mind  that  your 
sermons  always  have  something  in  them  which  shall 
really  impress  both  yourself  and  the  hearers  whom  you 
are  addressing. 

I  think  also  that  there  should  be  an  impressive  de- 
livery of  our  discourses.  The  delivery  of  some  preach- 
ers is  very  bad;  if  yours  is  so,  try  and  improve  it  in  all 
possible  ways.  One  young  man  wanted  to  learn  sing- 
ing, but  he  was  told  by  the  teacher,  "Ypu  have  only 
one  tone  to  your  voice,  and  that  is  outside  the  scale." 
So,  there  are  some  ministers'  voices  that  have  only 
one  tone,  and  there  is  no  music  in  that  one.  Do  try. 
as  far  as  you  can,  to  make  the  verv'  way  in  which  you 
speak  to  minister  to  the  great  end  you  have  in  view. 
Preach,  for  instance,  as  you  would  plead  if  you  were 
standing  before  a  judge,  and  begging  for  the  life  of  a 
friend,  or  as  if  you  were  appealing  to  the  Queen  her- 
self on  behalf  of  someone  ver\^  dear  to  vou.    Use  such 


94  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

a  tone  in  pleading-  witli  sinners  as  yon  would  use  if  a 
gibbet  were  erected  in  this  room,  and  you  were  to  be 
hanged  on  it  unless  you  could  persuade  the  person  in 
HAithority  to  release  you.  That  is  the  sort  of  earnest- 
ness you  need  in  pleading  with  men  as  ambassadors 
for  God.  Try  and  make  every  sermon  such  that  the 
most  flippant  shall  see  without  any  doubt  that,  if  it  be 
an  amusement  for  them  to  hear  you,  it  is  no  amuse- 
ment for  you  to  speak  to  them,  but  that  you  are  plead- 
ing with  them  in  downright  solemn  earnest  about  eter- 
nal matters.  I  have  often  felt  just  like  this  when  I 
have  been  preaching — I  have  known  what  it  is  to  use 
up  all  my  ammunition,  and  then  I  have,  as  it  were, 
rammed  myself  into  the  great  gospel  gun,  and  I  have 
fired  myself  at  my  hearers,  all  my  experience  of  God's 
goodness,  all  my  consciousness  of  sin,  and  all  my  sense 
of  the  power  of  the  gospel ;  and  there  are  some  people 
upon  whom  that  kind  of  preaching  tells  where  noth- 
ing else  would  have  done,  for  they  see  that  then  you 
communicate  to  them  not  only  the  gospel,  but  your- 
self also.  The  kind  of  sermon  which  is  likely  to  break 
the  hearer's  heart  is  that  which  has  first  broken  the 
preacher's  heart,  and  the  sermon  which  is  likely  to 
reach  the  heart  of  the  hearer  is  the  one  which  has  come 
straight  from  the  heart  of  the  preacher :  therefore,  dear 
brethren,  always  seek  to  preach  so  that  the  people 
shall  be  impressed  as  well  as  interested  and  instructed. 

Fifthty,  I  think  that  we  should  try  to  take  ovt  of  07/r\j 
serjjions  everything  that  is  likely  to  divert  the  hearers^  V 
mind  from  the  object  we  have  in  view. 

The  best  style  of  preaching  in  the  world,  like  the 
best  style  of  dressing,  is  that  which  nobody  notices. 
Somebody  went  to  spend  the  evening  with  Hannah 
^Tore,  and  when  he  came  home  his  wife  asked  him, 
"How  was  Miss  More  dressed?    She  must  have  been 


SERMONS  LIKELY  TO  WIN  SOULS.  93 

dressed  very  splendidly."  The  gentleman  answered: 
"Really  she  was — why,  dear  me,  how  was  she  dressed? 
I  did  not  notice  at  all  how  she  was  dressed;  anyway, 
there  was  nothing  particularly  noticeable  in  her  dress, 
she  was  herself  the  object  of  interest."  That  is  the  way 
that  a  true  lady  is  dressed,  so  that  we  notice  her,  and 
not  her  garments;  she  is  so  well  dressed  that  we  do 
not  know  how  she  is  dressed,  and  that  is  the  best  way 
of  dressing  a  sermon.  Let  it  never  be  said  of  you,  as 
it  is  sometimes  said  of  certain  popular  preachers,  "He 
did  the  thing  so  majestically,  he  spoke  with  such  lofty 
diction,  etc.,  etc.,  etc." 

Never  introduce  anything  into  your  discourse  that 
would  be  likely  to  distract  the  attention  of  the  hearer 
from  the  great  object  you  have  in  view.  If  you  take 
the  sinner's  mind  ofif  the  main  subject — speaking  after 
the  manner  of  men,  there  is  so  much  less  likelihood 
of  his  receiving  the  impression  you  desire  to  convey, 
and,  consequently,  the  smaller  pri^bability  of  his  being 
converted.  I  remember  once  reading  what  Mr.  Fin- 
ney said  in  his  book  on  "Revivals."  He  said  that  there 
was  a  person  on  the  point  of  being  converted,  and 
just  then  an  old  woman,  with  pattens  on,  came 
shuffling  up  the  aisle,  making  a  great  noise,  and  that 
soul  was  lost!  I  know  what  the  evangelist  meant, 
though  I  do  not  like  the  form  in  which  the  matter 
was  put  by  him.  The  noise  of  the  old  lady's  pattens 
probably  did  take  off  the  person's  mind  from  the  thing 
he  should  have  been  thinking  upon,  and  it  is  quite 
possible  that  he  could  not  be  brought  back  to  exactly 
the  same  position  again.  We  are  to  look  to  all  these 
little  things  as  if  everything  depended  upon  us,  at  the 
same  time  remembering  that  it  is  the  Holy  Spirit  alone 
who  can  make  the  work  effectual. 

Your  sermon  should  not  take  of¥  the  people's  at- 


96  THE3  SOUL-WINNER. 

tention  through  its  being  only  very  distantly  related 
to  the  text.  There  are  many  hearers  still  left  who 
believe  that  there  should  be  some  sort  of  connection 
between  the  sermon  and  the  text,  and  if  they  begin  ask- 
ing themselves,  "How  ever  did  the  minister  get  right 
over  there?  What  has  his  talk  to  do  with  the  text?" — 
you  will  have  lost  their  attention,  and  that  wandering 
habit  of  yours  may  be  a  very  destructive  one  to  them ; 
therefore,  keep  to  your  texts,  brethren.  If  you  do  not, 
you  will  be  like  the  little  boy  wbo  went  out  fishing,  and 
iiis  uncle  said  to  him:  "Have  you  caught  many  fish, 
vSamuel?"  The  boy  answered,  "I  have  been  fishing 
for  three  hours,  uncle,  and  I  have  not  caught  any  fish, 
but  I  have  lost  a  lot  of  worms."  I  hope  you  will  never 
have  to  say,  *T  did  not  win  any  souls  for  the  Saviour, 
but  I  spoiled  a  lot  of  precious  texts;  I  confused  and 
confounded  many  passages  of  Scripture,  but  I  did  no 
good  with  them.  I  was  not  supremely  anxious  to 
learn  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  as  revealed  in  the  text  so 
as  to  get  its  meaning  into  my  own  mind,  although  it 
took  a  deal  of  squeezing  and  packing  to  get  my  mind 
into  the  text."  That  is  not  a  good  thing  to  do;  stick 
to  your  texts,  brethren,  as  the  cobbler  is  bidden  to 
stick  to  his  last,  and  seek  to  get  out  of  the  Scriptures 
what  the  Holy  Spirit  has  put  into  them.  Never  let 
your  hearers  have  to  ask  the  question,  "What  has  this 
sermon  to  do  with  the  text?"  If  you  do,  the  people 
will  not  be  profited,  and  it  may  be  that  they  will  not 
be  saved. 

I  would  say  to  you  brethren,  you  of  these  two  Col- 
leges,''' get  all  the  education  that  you  can,  drink  in 
everything  that  your  tutors  can  possibly  impart  to  you. 

*This  lecture  was  delivered  on  a  Friday  afternoon,  when 
the  tutors  and  students  from  Harley  House  came  to  meet 
their  brethren  at  the  Pastors'  College. 


SERMONS  LIKELY  TO  WIN  SOULS.  97 

It  will  take  you  all  your  time  to  get  out  of  them  all 
that  is  in  them:  but  you  should  endeavour  to  learn 
all  that  you  can,  because,  believe  me,  a  want  of  educa- 
tion may  hinder  the  work  of  soul-winning.  That  \yrri- 
b!v'  omission  of  the  letter  '*h"  from  places  where  it 
ought  to  be,  that  aspiration  of  the  "h"  till  you  exasper- 
ate it  altogether — you  cannot  tell  what  mischiefs  such 
mistakes  may  cause.  There  was  a  young  friend  who 
might  have  been  converted,  for  she  did  seem  greatly 
impressed  by  your  discourse;  but  she  was  so  disgust- 
ed by  the  dreadful  way  in  which  you  put  in  "h's"  where 
they  ought  not  to  be,  or  left  them  out  where  they  ought 
to  be  in,  that  she  could  not  listen  to  you  with  any  pleas- 
ure, and  her  attention  was  distracted  from  the  truth  by 
your  errors  of  pronunciation.  That  letter  "h''  has  done 
vast  mischief,  it  is  "the  letter  that  killeth"  in  the  case 
of  a  great  many,  and  all  sorts  of  grammatical  blunders 
may  do  more  harm  than  you  can  imagine.  You  may 
think,  perhaps,  that  I  am  speaking  of  trifling  matters 
that  are  hardly  worthy  of  consideration ;  but  I  am  not, 
for  these  things  may  cause  most  serious  results;  and  as 
it  is  easy  to  learn  to  speak  and  write  correct  English, 
do  tr\'  and  know  all  you  can  of  it. 

Perhaps  someone  says,  ''Well,  I  know  such-and- 
such  a  successful  brother,  and  he  was  not  an  educated 
man."  That  is  true;  but  mark  you  this,  the  times 
are  altering.  One  young  woman  said  to  another,  'T 
do  not  see  why  we  girls  need  learn  so  many  lessons. 
The  young  women  before  us  did  not  know  much,  and 
yet  they  got  married."  "Yes,"  said  her  companion, 
"but  then,  you  know,  there  were  no  Board  Schools  in 
them  days;  but  now  the  young  men  will  be  educated, 
and  it  will  be  a  poor  look-out  for  us  as  ain't."  A  young 
man  might  say,  "Such-and-such  a  minister  was  un- 
grammatical,  and  yet  he  did  well";     but  the  people 


98  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

of  his  day  were  imgrammatical,  too,  so  it  did  not  mat- 
ter so  much ;  but  now,  when  they  have  all  been  to  the 
Board  Schools,  if  they  come  and  listen  to  you,  it  will 
be  a  pity  if  their  mind  is  taken  off  the  solemn  things 
which  you  wish  them  to  think  upon  because  they  can- 
not help  noticing  your  deficiencies  of  education.  Even 
if  you  are  not  an  educated  man,  God  may  bless  you; 
but  wisdom  tells  us  that  we  should  not  let  our  want  of 
education  hinder  the  gospel  from  blessing  men. 

"But,"  possibly  you  say,  "they  must  be  very  hyper- 
critical to  find  fault  like  that."  But,  then,  do  not  hyper- 
critical people  need  saving  just  as  much  as  other  peo- 
ple? I  would  not  have  a  hypercritical  person  who 
could  truthfully  say  that  my  preaching  so  jarred  upon 
his  ear,  and  disturbed  his  mind,  that  he  could  not  pos- 
sibly receive  the  doctrine  which  I  was  trying  to  set 
before  him.  Did  you  ever  hear  how  it  was  that  Charles 
Dickens  would  not  become  a  spiritualist?  At  a  seance 
he  asked  to  see  the  spirit  of  Lindley  Murray.-  There 
came  in  what  professed  to  be  the  spirit  of  Lindley  Mur- 
ray, and  Dickens  asked,  "Are  you  Lindley  Murray?" 
The  repty  came,  ^'lare.''  There  was  no  hope  of  Dick- 
ens' conversion  to  spiritualism  after  that  ungrammati- 
cal  answer.  You  may  well  laugh  at  the  story,  but  mind 
that  you  recollect  the  moral  of  it.  You  can  easily  see 
that,  by  forgetting  when  to  use  the  nominative  or  ac- 
cusative case  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  or  by  using  the 
wrong  tense  of  a  verb,  you  might  take  off  the  mind 
of  your  hearer  from  what  you  are  trying  to  bring  be- 
fore him,  and  so  prevent  the  truth  from  reaching  his 
heart  and  conscience.  Therefore,  divest  your  sermons 
as  much  as  ever  you  can  of  ever}^thing  that  is  at  all 
likely  to  take  away  the  mind  of  your  hearers  from  the 
one  object  before  you.  The  whole  attention  and 
thought  of  the  people  must  be  concentrated  on  the 


SERMONS  LIKELY  TO  WIN  SOULS.  99 

truth  we  are  setting  before  them  if  we  are  so  to  preach 
as  to  save  those  who  come  within  sound  of  our  voice. 
Sixthly,  I  believe  that  tJiose  sermons  which  are  full- 
est of  Christ  are  the  most  likely  to  be  blessed  to  the 
conversion  of  the  hearers.  Let  your  sermons  be  full 
of  Christ,  from  beginning  to  end  crammed  full  of  the 
gospel.  As  for  myself,  brethren,  I  cannot  preach  any- 
thing else  but  Christ  and  his  cross,  for  I  know  noth- 
ing else,  and  long  ago,  Hke  the  apostle  Paul,  I  de- 
termined not  to  know  anything  else  save  Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  crucified.  People  have  often  asked  me,  "What 
is  the  secret  of  your  success?"  I  always  answer  that  I 
have  no  other  secret  but  this,  that  I  have  preached 
the  gospel — not  about  the  gospel,  but  the  gospel — 
the  full,  free,  glorious  gospel  of  the  living  Christ  who 
is  the  incarnation  of  the  good  news.  Preach  Jesus 
Christ,  brethren,  always  and  everywhere;  and  every 
time  you  preach  be  sure  to  have  much  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  sermon.  You  remember  the  story  of  the  old 
minister  who  heard  a  sermon  by  a  young  man,  and 
when  he  was  asked  by  the  preacher  what  he  thought 
of  it  he  was  rather  slow  to  answer,  but  at  last  he  said, 
"If  I  must  tell  you,  I  did  not  like  it  at  all;  there  was 
no  Christ  in  your  sermon."  "No,"  answered  the  young 
man,  "because  I  did  not  see  that  Christ  was  in  the 
text."  "Oh!"  said  the  old  minister,  "but  do  you  not 
know  tliat  from  every  little  town  and  village  and  tiny 
hamlet  in  England  there  is  a  road  leading  to  London? 
Whenever  I  get  hold  of  a  text,  I  say  to  myself,  'There 
is  a  road  from  here  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  mean  to  keep 
on  His  track  till  I  get  to  Him.'"  "Well,"  said  the 
young  man,  "but  suppose  you  are  preaching  from  a 
text  that  says  nothing  about  Christ?"  "Then  I  will  go 
over  hedge  and  ditch  but  what  I  will  get  at  Him."  So 
must  we  do,  brethren ;  we  must  have  Christ  in  all  our 


\ 


100  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

discourses,  whatever  else  is  in  or  not  in  them.  There 
ought  to  be  enough  of  the  gospel  in  every  sermon  to 
save  a  soul.  Take  care  that  it  is  so  when  you  are  called 
to  preach  before  Her  Majesty  the  Queen,  and  if  you 
have  to  preach  to  charwomen  or  chairmen,  still  always 
take  care  that  there  is  the  real  gospel  in  every  sermon. 

I  have  heard  of  a  young  m.an  asking,  when  he  was 
going  to  preach  in  a  certain  place,  ''What  kind  of 
church  is  it?  What  do  the  people  believe?  What  is 
their  doctrinal  view?"  I  will  tell  you  how  to  avoid  the 
necessity  of  such  a  question  as  that;  preach  Jesus  Christ 
to  them,  and  if  that  does  not  suit  their  doctrinal  views 
then  preach  Jesus  Christ  the  next  Sunday  you  go;  and 
do  the  same  thing  the  next  Sabbath,  and  the  next,  and 
the  next,  and  never  preach  anything  else.  Those  who 
do  not  like  Jesus  Christ  must  have  Him  preached  to 
them  till  they  do  like  Him ;  for  they  are  the  very  people 
who  need  Him  most.  Recollect  that  all  the  trades- 
men in  the  world  say  that  they  can  sell  their  goods 
when  there  is  a  demand  for  them,  but  our  goods  create 
as  well  as  supply  the  demand.  We  preach  Jesus  Christ 
to  those  who  want  Him,  and  we  also  preach  Him  to 
those  who  do  not  want  Him,  and  we  keep  on  preach- 
ing Christ  until  we  make  them  feel  that  they  do  want 
Him,  and  cannot  do  without  Him. 

Seventhly,  brethren,  it  is  my  firm  conviction  that 
those  sermons  are  most  likely  to  co7ivert  7neji  tJiat  real- 
ly appeal  to  their  hearts,  not  those  that  are  fired  over 
their  heads,  or  that  are  aimed  only  at  their  intellects. 
I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  know  some  preachers  who 
will  never  do  much  good  in  the  world;  they  are  good 
men,  they  have  plenty  of  ability,  they  can  speak  well, 
and  they  have  a  good  deal  of  shrewdness;  but,  some- 
how or  other,  there  is  a  very  sad  omission  in  their 
nature,  for  to  anyone  who  knows  them,  it  is  quite 


V 


SERMONS  LIKELY  TO  WIN  SOULS.  101 

evident  that  they  have  not  any  heart.  I  know  one  or 
two  men  who  are  as  dry  as  leather.  If  you  were  to 
hang  them  up  on  the  wall,  as  you  do  a  piece  of  sea- 
weed, to  tell  what  kind  of  weather  it  is  to  be,  they 
would  be  no  guide  to  you,  for  scarcely  any  weather 
would  afifect  them. 

But  I  also  know  some  men  who  are  the  very  reversa 
of  these  brethren.  They  are  not  likely  to  win  souls,  for 
they  are  themselves  so  flippant,  and  frivolous,  and 
foolish,  there  is  nothing  serious  about  them,  nothing 
to  show  that  they  are  living  in  earnest.  I  cannot  find 
any  traces  of  a  soul  in  them;  they  are  too  shallow  to 
contain  one,  it  could  not  live  in  the  inch  or  two  of 
water  that  is  all  that  they  hold,  they  appear  to  have 
been  made  without  any  soul,  so  they  cannot  do  any 
good  in  preaching  the  gospel.  You  must  have  souls, 
brothers,  if  you  are  to  look  after  your  brothers'  souls, 
depend  upon  that;  as  you  must  have  a  heart  if  you  are 
to  reach  your  brother's  heart. 

Here  is  another  kind  of  man, — one  who  cannot  weep 
over  sinners — what  is  the  good  of  him  in  the  ministry  i^ 
He  never  did  weep  over  men  in  his  life;  he  never 
agonized  before  God  on  their  behalf;  he  never  said 
with  Jeremiah,  "Oh  that  my  head  were  waters,  and 
mine  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  I  might  weep  day 
and  night  for  the  slain  of  the  daughter  of  my  people !" 
I  know  a  brother  like  this.  In  a  meeting  of  ministers, 
after  we  had  been  confessing  our  shortcomings,  he  said 
that  he  was  very  much  ashamed  of  us  all.  Well,  no 
doubt,  we  ought  to  have  been  more  ashamed  of  our- 
selves than  we  were;  but  he  told  us  that,  if  we  had  truly 
meant  what  we  had  said  in  our  confessions  to  God,  we 
were  a  disgrace  to  the  ministry;  perhaps  we  were.  He 
said  he  was  not  like  that;  so  far  as  he  knew,  he  never 
preached  a  sermon  without  feeling  that  it  was  the  best 


102  TliE  SOUL- WINNER. 

he  could  preach,  and  he  did  not  know  that  he  could 
do  any  better  than  he  had  done.  He  was  a  man  who 
always  studied  just  so  many  hours  every  day,  always 
prayed  exactly  so  many  minutes,  always  preached  a 
certain  length  of  time,  in  fact,  he  was  the  most  regular 
man  I  ever  knew.  When  I  heard  him  talk  as  he  had 
done  to  us,  I  asked  myself,  "What  does  his  ministry 
show  as  the  result  of  this  perfect  way  of  doing  things?" 
Why,  it  did  not  show  anything  at  all  that  was  satisfac- 
tory. He  has  great  gifts  of  dispersion ;  for,  if  he  goes 
to  a  full  chapel,  he  soon  empties  it;  yet  he  is,  I  believe, 
a  good  man  in  his  way.  I  could  wish  that  his  clock 
would  sometimes  stop,  or  strike  in  the  middle  of  the 
half-hour,  or  that  something  extraordinary  might  hap- 
pen to  him,  because  some  good  might  come  of  it;  but 
he  is  so  regular  and  orderly,  that  there  is  no  hope  of  his 
doing  anything,  the  fault  with  him  is  that  he  has  not 
any  fault.  You  will  notice,  brethren,  that  preachers 
who  have  no  faults  have  no  excellences  either;  so  try 
to  avoid  that  flat,  dead  level  and  everything  else  that 
makes  people  less  likely  to  be  converted. 

Coming  back  to  that  matter  of  the  possession  of  a 
heart,  of  which  I  was  speaking,  I  asked  a  young  girl, 
who  came  lately  to  join  the  church,  "Have  you  a  good 
heart?"  She  replied,  "Yes,  sir."  I  said,  "Have  you 
thought  over  that  question?  Have  you  not  an  evil 
heart?"  "Oh,  yes!"  she  answered.  "Well,"  I  said, 
"how  do  your  two  answers  agree?"  "Why,"  responded 
the  girl,  "I  know  that  I  have  a  good  heart,  because 
God  has  given  me  a  new  heart  and  a  right  spirit;  and 
I  also  know  that  I  have  an  evil  heart,  for  I  often  find 
it  fighting  against  my  new  heart."  She  was  right,  and 
I  had  sooner  feel  that  a  minister  had  two  hearts  than 
that  he  had  none  at  all.  It  must  be  heart-work  with 
you,  brethren,  far  more  than  head-work,  if  you  are  to 


SERMONS  LIKELY  TO  WIN  SOULS.  103 

will  many  souls.  Amidst  all  your  studies,  mind  that 
you  never  let  your  spiritual  life  get  dry.  There  is  no 
necessity  that  it  should,  although  with  many  study  has 
had  that  effect.  My  dear  brethren,  the  tutors,  wnll  1)car 
me  witness  that  there  is  a  very  drying  influence  about 
Latin,  and  Greek,  and  Hebrew.    That  couplet  is  true — 

"Hebrew  roots,  as  known  to  most, 
Do  flourish  best  on  barren  ground." 

There  is  a  very  drying  influence  in  the  classics,  and 
there  is  a  very  drying  influence  in  mathematics,  and 
you  may  get  absorbed  in  any  science  till  your  heart 
is  gone.  Do  not  let  that  be  the  case  wath  any  of  you, 
so  that  people  should  have  to  say  of  you,  "He  knows 
much  more  than  he  did  when  he  first  came  amongst  us, 
but  he  has  not  as  much  spirituality  as  he  used  to  have." 
Take  care  that  it  never  is  so.  Do  not  be  satisfied  with 
merely  polishing  up  your  grates,  but  stir  the  fire  in 
your  heart,  and  get  your  ow^n  soul  all  aflame  with  love 
to  Christ,  or  else  you  will  not  be  likely  to  be  greatly 
used  in  the  winning  of  souls  of  others. 

Lastly,  brethren,  I  think  that  those  sermons  which 
have  been  prayed  over  are  the  most  likely  to  convert 
people.  I  mean  those  discourses  that  have  had  much 
real  prayer  offered  over  them,  both  in  the  preparation 
and  the  delivery,  for  there  is  much  so-called  prayer  that 
is  only  playing  at  praying.  I  rode,  some  time  ago, 
with  a  man  who  professes  to  work  wonderful  cures 
by  the  acids  of  a  certain  wood.  After  he  had  told  me 
about  his  marvelous  remedy,  I  asked  him,  "What  is 
there  in  that  to  effect  such  cures  as  you  profess  to  have 
wTought?"  "Oh!"  he  answered,  "it  is  the  way  in  which 
I  prepare  it,  much  more  than  the  stuff  itself;  that  is  the 
secret  of  its  curative  properties.     I  rub  it  as  hard  as 


\j 


104  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

ever  I  can  for  a  long  while,  and  I  have  so  much  vital 
electricity  in  me  that  I  put  my  very  life  into  it."  Well, 
well,  he  was  only  a  quack,  yet  we  may  learn  a  lesson 
even  from  him,  for  the  way  to  make  sermons  is  to  work 
vital  electricity  into  them,  putting  your  own  life  and  the 
very  life  of  God  into  them  by  earnest  prayer.  The  dif- 
ference between  a  sermon  that  has  been  prayed  over 
and  one  that  has  been  prepared  and  preached  by  a 
prayerless  man  is  like  the  difference  that  Mr.  Fergusson 
suggested  in  his  prayer  when  he  referred  to  the  high 
priest  before  and  after  his  anointing.  You  must  anoint 
your  sermons,  brethren,  and  you  cannot  do  it  except  by 
much  private  communion  with  God.  May  the  Holy 
Spirit  anoint  every  one  of  you,  and  richly  bless  you 
in  winning  souls,  for  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ's  sake! 
Amen. 


OBSTACLES  TO  SOUL  WINNING. 


OBSTACLES  TO  SOUL-WINNING 


I  have  spoken  to  you,  brethren,  at  different  times, 
about  soul-winning — that  most  royal  employment. 
May  you  all  become,  in  this  sense,  mighty  hunters  be- 
fore the  Lord,  and  bring  many  sinners  to  the  Saviour! 
I  want,  at  this  time,  to  say  a  few  words  upon — 

THE  OBSTACLES   THAT   LIE  IN  OUR  PATH  AS  WE 
SEEK  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST. 

They  are  very  many,  and  I  cannot  attempt  to  make 
a  complete  catalogue  of  them;  but  the  first,  and  one 
of  the  most  difficult  is,  doubtless,  the  i7idifference  and 
lethargy  of  sitiners.  All  men  are  not  alike  indifferent; 
in  fact,  there  are  some  persons  who  seem  to  have  a 
sort  of  religious  instinct,  which  influences  them  for 
good,  long  before  they  have  any  real  love  to  spiritual 
things.  But  there  are  districts,  especially  rural  dis- 
tricts, where  indifference  prevails;  and  the  same  state 
of  things  exists  in  various  parts  of  London.  It  is  not 
infidelity ;  the  people  do  not  care  enough  about  religion 
even  to  oppose  it.  They  are  not  concerned  as  to  what 
you  preach,  or  where  you  preach,  for  they  have  no 
interest  whatever  in  the  matter.  They  have  no  thought 
of  God;  they  care  nothing  about  Him,  or  His  service, 
they  only  use  His  name  in  profanity.  I  have  often 
noticed  that  any  place  where  there  is  little  business 
doing  is  bad  for  religious  effort.  Among  the  negroes 
of  Jamaica,  whenever  they  had  not  much  work,  there 


108  THE  iSOUL-WINNER. 

was  little  prosperity  in  the  churches.  I  could  indicate 
districts,  not  far  from  here,  where  business  is  slack; 
and  there  you  w-ill  find  that  there  is  very  little  good 
being  done.  All  along  the  valley  of  the  Thames,  there 
are  places  wdiere  a  man  might  preach  his  heart  out, 
and  kill  himself;  but  there  is  little  or  nothing  of  good 
being  accomplished  in  those  regions,  just  as  there  is 
no  active  business  life  there. 

Now,  whenever  you  meet  with  indif¥erence,  as  you 
may  do,  my  dear  brother,  in  the  place  wdiere  you  go 
to  preach, — indifiference  affecting  your  own  people, 
and  even  your  own  deacons  seeming  to  be  tinged 
with  it, — what  are  you  to  do?  Well,  your  only  hope 
of  overcoming  it  is,  to  be  doubly  in  earnest  yourself. 
Keep  your  own  zeal  all  alive,  let  it  be  even  vehement, 
burning,  blazing,  all-consuming.  Stir  the  people  up 
somehow;  and  if  all  your  earnestness  seems  to  be  in 
vain,  still  blaze  and  burn;  and  if  that  has  no  effect 
upon  your  hearers,  go  elsewhere  as  the  Lord  may 
direct  you.  This  indifference  or  lethargy,  that  pos- 
sesses the  minds  of  some  men,  is  very  likely  to  have 
an  evil  influence  upon  our  preaching;  but  we  must 
strive  and  struggle  against  it,  and  try  to  wake  both 
ourselves  and  our  hearers  up.  I  would  far  rather 
have  a  man  an  earnest,  intense  opposer  of  the  gospel 
than  have  him  careless  and  indifferent.  You  cannot 
do  much  with  a  man  if  he  will  not  speak  about  reli- 
gion, or  will  not  come  to  hear  what  you  have  to  say 
concerning  the  things  of  God.  You  might  as  well  have 
him  a  downright  infidel,  like  a  very  leviathan  covered 
with  scales  of  blasphemy,  as  to  have  him  a  mere  earth- 
worm wriggling  away  out  of  reach. 

Another  very  great  obstacle  to  soul-winning  is  U7i- 
belief.  You  know  that  it  is  written  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
when  in  ''His  own  country"  that  "He  did  not  many 


OBSTACLES  TO  SOUL-WINNING.  109 

mighty  works  there  because  of  their  iinbehef."  This 
evil  exists  in  all  nnregenerate  hearts,  but  in  some  men 
it  takes  a  very  pronounced  form.  They  do  think  about 
religion,  but  they  do  not  believe  in  the  truth  of  God 
which  we  preach  to  them.  Their  opinion  is  to  them 
more  weighty,  more  worthy  of  belief,  than  God's 
inspired  declarations;  they  will  not  accept  anything 
that  is  revealed  in  the  Scriptures.  These  people  are 
very  hard  to  influence;  but  I  would  warn  you  not  to 
fight  them  with  their  own  w^eapons.  I  do  not  believe 
that  infidels  ever  are  won  by  argument;  or,  if  so,  it 
very  seldom  happens.  The  argument  that  convinces 
men  of  the  reality  of  religion,  is  that  which  they  gather 
from  the  holiness  and  earnestness  of  those  who  profess 
to  be  Christ's  followers.  As  a  rule,  they  barricade 
their  minds  against  the  assaults  of  reason;  and  if  we 
give  our  pulpits  over  to  arguing  with  them,  we  shall 
often  be  doing  more  harm  than  good.  In  all  probabil- 
ity, only  a  very  small  portion  of  our  audience  will 
understand  what  w^e  are  talking  about;  and  while  we 
are  trying  to  do  them  good,  most  likely  we  shall  be 
teaching  infidelity  to  others  who  do  not  know  any- 
thing about  such  things,  and  the  first  knowledge  they 
ever  have  of  certain  heresies  will  have  come  to  them 
from  our  lips.  Possibly  our  refutation  of  the  error 
may  not  have  been  perfect,  and  many  a  young  mind 
may  have  been  tinctured  with  unbelief  through  listen- 
ing to  our  attempted  exposure  of  it.  I  believe  that 
you  will  rout  unbelief  by  your  faith  rather  than  by  your 
reason;  by  your  belief,  and  your  acting  up  to  your 
conviction  of  the  truth,  you  will  do  more  good  than 
by  any  argument,  however  strong  it  may  be.  There 
is  a  friend  who  sits  to  hear  me  generally  every  Sab- 
bath. ''What  do  you  think?"  he  said  to  me,  one  day, 
"you  are  my  only  link  with  better  things;    but  you 


110  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

are  an  awful  man  in  my  estimation,  for  you  have  not 
the  sHghtest  sympathy  with  me."  I  repHed,  "No,  I 
have  not;  or,  rather,  I  have  not  the  least  sympathy 
with  your  unbelief."  'That  makes  me  cling  to  you, 
for  I  fear  that  I  shall  always  remain  as  I  am;  but 
when  I  see  your  calm  faith,  and  perceive  how  God 
blesses  you  in  exercising  it,  and  know  what  you  accom- 
plish through  the  power  of  that  faith,  I  say  to  myself, 
'Jack,  you  are  a  fool.' "  I  said  to  him,  "You  are  quite 
right  in  that  verdict,  and  the  sooner  you  come  to  my 
way  of  thinking,  the  better,  for  nobody  can  be  a  big- 
ger fool  than  the  man  who  does  not  believe  in  God." 
One  of  these  days  I  expect  to  see  him  converted ;  there 
is  a  continual  battle  between  us,  but  I  never  answer 
one  of  his  arguments.  I  said  to  him  once,  "If  you 
believe  that  I  am  a  liar,  you  are  free  to  think  so  if  you 
like;  but  I  testify  what  I  do  know,  and  state  what  I 
have  seen,  and  tasted,  and  handled,  and  felt,  and  you 
ought  to  believe  my  testimony,  for  I  have  no  possible 
object  to  serve  in  deceiving  you."  That  man  would 
have  beaten  me  long  ago  if  I  had  fired  at  him  with  the 
paper  pellets  of  reason.  So,  I  advise  you  to  fight 
unbelief  wath  belief,  falsehood  with  the  truth,  and  never 
to  cut  and  pare  down  the  gospel  to  try  to  make  it  fit 
in  with  the  follies  and  fancies  of  men. 

A  third  obstacle  in  the  way  of  winning  souls  is  that 
fatal  delay  which  men  so  often  make.  I  do  not  know 
whether  this  evil  is  not  on  the  whole  more  widespread 
and  mischievous  than  the  indiiTerence  and  lethargy  and 
unbelief  of  which  I  have  spoken.  Many  a  man  says 
to  us  what  Felix  said  to  Paul,  "Go  thy  way  for  this 
time;  when  I  have  a  convenient  season,  I  will  call  for 
thee."  Such  an  individual  gets  into  the  border  country, 
he  seems  to  be  within  a  few  steps  of  Emmanuel's  land, 
and  yet  he  parries  our  home-thrusts,  and  puts  us  of¥ 


OBSTACLES  TO  SOUL-WINNING.  Ill 

by  saying,  '*Yes,  I  will  think  the  matter  over,  it  shall 
not  be  long  before  I  decide."  There  is  nothing  like 
pressing  men  for  a  speedy  decision,  and  getting  them  to 
settle  at  once  this  all-important  question.  Never  mind 
if  they  do  find  fault  with  your  teaching;  it  is  always 
right  to  preach  what  God  says,  and  His  word  is,  "Be- 
hold, now  is  the  accepted  time;  behold,  now  is  the 
day  of  salvation." 

This  leads  me  to  mention  another  obstacle  to  soul- 
winning,  which  is  the  same  thing  in  another  form, 
viz.,  carnal  security.  Many  men  fancy  that  they  are 
quite  safe;  they  have  not  really  tested  the  foundation 
on  which  they  are  building,  to  see  that  it  is  sound  and 
firm,  but  they  suppose  that  all  is  w^ell.  If  they  are 
not  good  Christians,  they  can  at  least  say  that  they 
are  rather  better  than  some  who  are  Christians,  or  who 
call  themselves  by  that  name;  and  if  there  is  anything 
lacking  in  them,  they  can  at  any  time  put  on  the  finish- 
ing touch,  and  make  themselves  fit  for  God's  presence. 
Thus  they  have  no  fear;  or,  if  they  do  fear  at  all,  they 
do  not  live  in  constant  dread  of  that  eternal  destruc- 
tion from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory 
of  His  power,  which  will  certainly  be  their  portion 
unless  they  repent,  and  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Against  these  people  we  ought  to  thunder  day  and 
night.  Let  us  plainly  proclaim  to  them  that  the  unbe- 
lieving sinner  is  ''condemned  already,"  and  that  he  is 
certain  to  perish  everlastingly  if  he  does  not  trust  in 
Christ.  We  ought  so  to  preach  as  to  make  every  sinner 
tremble  in  his  seat;  and  if  he  will  not  come  to  the 
Saviour,  he  ought  at  least  to  have  a  hard  time  of  it 
while  he  stops  away  from  Him.  I  am  afraid  that  we 
sometimes  preach  smooth  things,  too  soothing  and 
agreeable,  and  that  we  do  not  set  before  men  their  real 
danger  as  we  should.     If  we  shun  in  this  respect  to 


112  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

declare  all  the  counsel  of  God,  part  at  least  of  the 
responsibility  of  their  ruin  will  lie  at  our  door. 

Another  obstacle  to  soul-winning  is  despair.  The 
pendulum  swings  first  one  way  and  then  the  other; 
and  the  man  who  yesterday  had  no  fear,  to-day  has 
no  hope.  There  are  thousands  who  have  heard  the 
gospel,  and  yet  live  in  a  kind  of  despair  of  its  power 
being  ever  exerted  upon  them.  Perhaps  they  have 
been  brought  up  among  people  who  taught  them  that 
the  work  of  salvation  was  something  of  God  altogether 
apart  from  the  sinner;  and  so  they  say  that,  if  they 
are  to  be  saved,  they  will  be  saved.  You  know  that 
this  teaching  contains  a  great  truth,  and  yet,  if  it  is 
left  by  itself,  without  qualification,  it  is  a  horrible  false- 
hood. It  is  fatalism,  not  predestination,  that  makes 
men  talk  as  if  there  is  nothing  whatever  for  them  to 
do,  or  that  there  is  nothing  that  they  can  do.  There 
is  no  likelihood  of  anyone  being  saved  while  he  gives 
you  this  as  his  only  hope,  *Tf  salvation  is  for  me,  it 
will  come  to  me  in  due  time."  You  may  meet  with 
people  who  talk  thus;  and  when  you  have  said  all  you 
can,  they  will  remain  as  if  they  were  cased  in  steel, 
with  no  sense  of  responsibility,  because  there  is  no 
hope  awakened  in  their  spirit.  Oh,  if  they  would  but 
hope  that  they  might  receive  mercy  by  asking  for  it, 
and  so  be  led  to  cast  their  guilty  souls  on  Christ,  what 
a  blessing  it  would  be!  Let  us  preach  full  and  free 
salvation  to  all  who  trust  in  Jesus,  so  that  we  may,  if 
possible,  reach  these  people.  If  the  carnally  secure 
should  be  tempted  to  presume,  some  who  are  quietly 
despairing  may  pluck  up  heart,  and  hope,  and  may 
venture  to  come  to  Christ. 

No  doubt  a  great  obstacle  to  soul-winning  is  the  love 
of  sin.  *'Sin  lieth  at  the  door."  There  are  many  men 
who  never  get  saved  because  of  some  secret  lust;    it 


OBSTACLES  TO  SOUL-WINNING.  11:; 

may  be  that  they  arc  Hving-  in  fornication.  I  remem- 
ber well  the  case  of  a  man,  of  whom  I  thought  that 
he  would  certainly  come  to  Christ.  He  was  fully  aware 
of  the  power  of  the  j^ospel,  and  seemed  to  be  impressed 
under  the  preaching  of  the  Word;  but  I  found  out 
that  he  had  become  entangled  with  a  woman  who  was 
not  his  wife,  and  that  he  was  still  living  in  sin  while 
])rofessing  to  be  seeking  the  Saviour.  When  I  heard 
that,  I  could  easily  understand  how  it  was  that  he  could 
not  obtain  peace;  wdiatever  tenderness  of  heart  he  may 
have  felt,  there  was  this  woman  always  holding  him 
in  the  bondage  of  sin. 

There  are  some  men  who  are  guilty  of  dishonest 
transactions  in  business;  you  will  not  see  them  saved 
all  the  while  they  continue  to  act  so.  If  they  will  not 
give  up  that  trickery,  they  cannot  be  saved.  There 
are  others  who  are  drinking  to  excess.  People  who 
drink,  you  know,  are  often  very  easily  affected  under 
our  preaching;  they  have  a  watery  eye,  their  drinking 
has  made  them  soft-headed,  and  there  is  a  maudlin  kind 
of  sensitiveness  in  them;  but  as  long  as  a  man  clings 
to  "the  cup  of  devils"  he  will  not  be  likely  to  come  to 
Christ.  With  others  it  is  some  secret  sin,  or  some 
hidden  lust  that  is  the  great  difficulty.  One  says 
that  he  cannot  help  flying  into  a  passion,  another  de- 
clares that  he  cannot  give  up  getting  drunk,  while 
another  laments  that  he  cannot  find  peace,  whereas 
the  root  of  the  mischief  is  that  there  is  a  harlot  who 
stands  in  his  way.  In  all  these  cases,  we  have  only 
to  keep  on  preaching  the  truth,  and  God  will  help  us 
to  aim  the  arrow  at  the  joint  in  the  sinner's  harness. 

Another  obstacle  is  put  in  our  way  by  vicji's  self- 
righteousness.  They  have  not  committed  any  of  these 
sins  I  have  mentioned,  they  have  kept  all  the  com- 
man.dments  from  their  youth  up;   what  lack  they  yet? 


114  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

There  is  no  room  for  Christ  in  a  full  heart;  and  when 
a  man  is  clothed  from  head  to  foot  with  his  own  right- 
eousness, he  has  no  need  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ ; 
at  least,  he  is  not  conscious  of  his  need,  and  if  the 
gospel  does  not  convince  him  of  it,  Moses  must  come 
with  the  law,  and  show  him  what  his  true  state  is. 
That  is  the  real  difficulty  in  many,  many  cases;  the 
man  does  not  come  to  Christ  because  he  is  not  con- 
scious that  he  is  lost,  he  does  not  ask  to  be  lifted  up 
because  he  does  not  know  that  he  is  a  fallen  creature, 
he  does  not  feel  that  he  has  any  need  of  divine  mercy 
or  forgiveness,  and  therefore  he  does  not  seek  it. 

Once  more,  there  are  some  with  whom  all  we  say 
has  no  effect  because  of  their  titter  ttwrldliness.  This 
worldliness  takes  two  shapes;  in  the  poor,  it  is  the 
result  of  grinding  poverty.  When  a  man  has  scarcely 
enough  bread  to  eat,  and  hardly  knows  how  to  get 
clothes  to  put  on,  when  at  home  he  hears  the  cries  of 
his  little  children,  and  looks  into  the  face  of  his  over- 
worked wife,  we  must  preach  very  wonderfully  if  we 
are  to  secure  his  attention,  and  make  him  think  about 
the  world  to  come.  "What  shall  we  eat?  what  shall  we 
drink?  and  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed?"  are  ques- 
tions that  press  very  heavily  upon  the  poor.  To  a 
hungry  man,  Christ  is  ver\^  lovely  when  He  has  a  loaf 
of  bread  in  His  hand.  Our  Lord  so  appeared  whefi 
He  was  breaking  the  bread  and  fish  for  the  multitude, 
for  even  He  did  not  disdain  to  feed  the  hungry;  ami 
when  we  can  relieve  the  wants  of  the  destitute,  we 
may  be  doing  a  necessary  thing  to  them,  and  placing 
them  where  they  may  be  capable  of  listening  with  profit 
to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  The  other  kind  of  worldliness 
comes  of  having  too  much  of  this  world,  or  at  least 
of  making  too  much  of  this  world.  The  gentleman 
must  be  fashionable,  his  daughters  must  be  dressed  in 


OBSTACLES    TO    SOUL- WINNING.  115 

the  best  sy\e,  his  sons  must  learn  to  dance,  and  so  on. 
This  sort  of  worldHncss  has  been  the  great  curse  of 
our  Nonconformist  churches. 

Then  there  is  another  kind  of  man  who  is  from 
morning"  to  night  grinding  away  at  the  shop;  his  one 
business  seems  to  be  to  put  up  the  shutters,  and  take 
them  down  again;  he  will  rise  early,  and  sit  up  late, 
and  eat  the  bread  of  carefulness,  so  as  to  make  money. 
What  can  we  do  for  these  covetous  persons?  How 
can  we  ever  hope  to  touch  the  hearts  of  these  men 
whose  one  aim  is  to  be  rich,  the  people  who  scrape 
up  the  halfpennies  and  farthings?  Economy  is  good, 
but  there  is  an  economy  that  becomes  parsimony,  and 
that  parsimony  becomes  the  habit  of  these  miserly  folk. 
Some  will  even  go  to  chapel  because  it  is  the  proper 
and  respectable  tiling,  and  they  hope  to  gain  custom- 
ers by  going.  Jndas  remained  unconverted  even  in 
the  company  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  we  have 
some  people  still  among  us  in  whose  ears  the  thirty 
pieces  of  silver  chink  so  loudly  that  the  soiind  of  the 
gospel  cannot  be  heard  by  them. 

I  may  mention  one  more  obstacle  to  soul-winning, 
that  is,  the  obstacle  there  is  with  some  men  througii 
f/ieir  liabits,  and  resorts,  and  company.  How  can  we 
expect  a  working-man  to  go  home,  and  sit  all  the 
evening  in  the  one  room  that  he  has  to  live  in,  and 
sleep  in?  Perhaps  there  are  two  or  three  children  cry- 
ing, and  linen  drying,  and  all  sorts  of  things  to  pro- 
duce discomfort.  The  man  comes  in,  and  his  wife  is 
scolding,  his  children  are  crying,  and  the  linen  is  dry- 
ing; what  would  you  do  if  you  were  in  his  place? 
Suppose  you  were  not  Christian  men,  would  you  not 
go  somewhere  or  other?  You  cannot  walk  the  streets, 
and  you  know  that  there  is  a  cosy  room  at  the  public- 
house,  with  its  flashing  gaslight,  or  there  is  the  gin- 


116  THEJ  SOUL-WINNER. 

palace  at  the  corner,  where  everything  is  bright  and 
cheerful,  and  where  there  are  plenty  of  jolly  compan- 
ions. Well,  now,  you  cannot  hope  to  be  the  means  of 
saving  men  while  they  go  to  such  places,  and  while 
they  meet  with  the  company  that  is  found  there.  All 
the  good  that  they  receive  from  the  hymns  they 
heard  on  the  Sabbath  is  driven  away  as  they  listen  to  the 
comic  songs  in  the  drink-shop,  and  all  remembrance 
of  the  services  of  the  sanctuary  is  obliterated  by  the 
very  questionable  tales  that  are  told  in  the  bar-parlour. 
Hence  the  great  mercy  of  having  a  place  where  work- 
ing-men can  come  and  sit  in  safety,  or  of  having  a 
Blue  Ribbon  meeting,  a  gathering  wdiere  it  may  not 
be  all  singing,  nor  all  preaching,  nor  all  praying,  but 
where  there  is  something  of  all  these  things.  Here 
the  man  is  enabled  to  get  out  of  the  former  habits 
which  seemed  to  hold  him  fast,  and  by-and-by  he  does 
not  go  to  the  public-house  at  all,  but  he  has  two  rooms, 
or  perhaps  a  little  cottage,  so  that  his  wife  can  dry 
the  linen  in  the  backyard,  and  now  he  finds  that  the 
baby  does  not  cry  so  much  as  he  used  to  do,  probably 
because  his  mother  has  more  to  give  him;  and  every- 
thing gets  better  and  brighter  now  that  the  man  has 
forsaken  his  former  resorts.  I  think  a  Christian  min- 
ister is  quite  justified  in  using  all  right  and  lawful  means 
to  wean  the  people  from  their  evil  associations,  and 
it  may  be  well  sometimes  to  do  that  which  seems  to 
be  extraordinary  if  thereby  we  can  by  any  means  win 
men  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  That  must  be  our  one 
aim  in  all  that  we  do;  and  whatever  obstacles  may  be 
in  our  pathway,  we  must  seek  the  aid  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  that  they  may  be  removed,  and  that  thus  souls 
may  be  saved,  and  God  may  be  glorified. 


HOW  TO  INDUCE  OUR  PEOPLE  TO  WIN 
SOULS 


HOW  TO  INDUCE  OUR  PEOPLE 
TO  WIN  SOULS. 


I  have  spoken  to  you  at  different  times,  brethren, 
about  the  great  work  of  our  hves,  which  is  that 
of  winning  souls.  I  have  tried  to  show  you  various 
ways  in  which  we  win  souls,  the  qualifications  both 
towards  God  and  towards  man  of  those  who  are  likely 
to  be  used  in  winning  souls,  the  kind  of  sermons  that 
are  most  likely  to  win  souls,  and  also  the  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  soul-winners.  Now  I  should  like,  this  after- 
noon, to  talk  to  you  upon  another  part  of  the  subject; 
that  is, — 

HOW  CAN  WE  INDUCE  OUR  PEOPLE  TO  BECOME 
SOUL-WINNERS? 

You  are  aspiring,  each  of  you,  in  due  time,  to  be- 
come pastors  of  churches,  unless  the  Lord  should  call 
you  to  be  evangelists,  or  missionaries  to  the  heathen. 
Well,  you  commence  at  first  as  single  sowers  of  the 
good  seed  of  the  kingdom,  and  you  go  forth  scattering 
from  your  own  basket  your  own  handfuls.  You  desire, 
however,  to  become  spiritual  farmers,  and  to  have  a 
certain  acreage  which  you  will  not  sow  entirely  your- 
self, but  you  will  have  servants  who  will  aid  you  in  the 
work.     Then,  to  one  you  will  say,  "Go,"  and  he  will 


\^ 


120  THE  SOUL-WINNEH. 

go  forthwilli;  or,  "Come,"  and  he  will  come  at  once; 
and  you  will  seek  to  lead  them  into  the  art  and  mystery 
of  seed-sowing,  so  that,  after  a  while,  you  may  have 
large  numbers  of  persons  round  about  you  doing  this 
good  work,  and  thus  a  far  greater  acreage  may  be 
brought  into  cultivation  for  the  great  Husbandman. 
There  are  some  of  us  who  have,  by  God's  grace,  been 
so  richly  blessed  that  we  have  all  around  us  a  large 
number  of  persons  w4io  have  been  spiritually  quick- 
ened through  our  instrumentality,  people  who  have 
been  aroused  under  our  ministry,  who  have  been  in- 
structed and  strengthened  by  us,  and  who  are  all  doing 
good  service  for  God. 

Let  me  warn  you  not  to  look  for  all  this  at  the  first, 
for  //  is  the  work  of  time.  Do  not  expect  to  get,  in 
the  first  year  of  your  pastorate,  that  result  which  is 
the  reward  of  twenty  years'  continuous  toil  in  one  place. 
Young  men  sometimes  make  a  very  great  mistake  in 
the  way  they  talk  to  those  who  never  saw  them  until 
about  six  weeks  ago.  They  cannot  speak  w^th  the 
authority  of  one  who  has  been  as  a  father  among  his 
people,  having  been  with  them  for  twenty  or  thirty 
years;  or  if  they  do,  it  becomes  a  sort  of  foolish  affecta- 
tion on  their  part,  and  it  is  equally  foolish  to  expect 
the  people  to  be  all  at  once  the  same  as  they  might 
be  after  they  have  been  trained  by  a  godly  minister 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  It  is  true  that  you  may  go 
to  a  church  where  somebody  else  has  faithfully  laboured 
for  many  years,  and  long  sown  the  good  seed,  and  you 
may  find  your  sphere  of  labour  in  a  most  blessed  and 
prosperous  state,  and  happy  will  you  be  if  you  can 
thus  jump  into  a  good  man's  shoes,  and  follow  the 
path  he  has  been  treading.  It  is  always  a  good  sign 
when  the  horses  do  not  know  that  they  have  a  new 
driver;    and  you,  my  brother,  inexperienced  as  you 


HOW  TO  INDUCE  OUR  PEOPLE  TO  WIN  yoULo.     121 

are,  will  be  a  very  happy  man  if  that  should  be  your 
lot;  but  the  probability  is  that  you  will  go  to  a  place 
that  has  been  allowed  to  run  almost  to  ruin,  possibly 
to  one  that  has  been  altogether  neglected. 

Perhaps  you  will  try  to  get  the  principal  deacon  to 
imitate  your  earnestness;  you  are  at  a  white  heat,  and 
when  you  find  him  as  cold  as  steel,  yoiv  will  be  like  a 
piece  of  hot  iron  dipped  into  a  pail  of  water.  He  may 
tell  you  that  he  recollects  others  who  were  at  first 
just  as  hot  as  you  are,  but  they  soon  cooled  down, 
and  he  will  not  be  surprised  if  you  do  the  same.  He 
is  a  very  good  man,  but  then  he  is  old,  and  you  are 
young,  and  we  cannot  put  young  heads  on  old  shoul- 
ders even  if  we  were  to  attempt  to  do  it.  Perhaps  next 
you  will  resolve  to  try  some  of  the  young  people ;  pos- 
sibly you  can  get  on  better  with  them;  but  they  do 
not  understand  you,  they  are  backward  and  retiring, 
and  they  soon  fiy  off  at  a  tangent.  You  must  not  be 
surprised  if  this  is  your  experience.  Very  likely  you 
will  have  almost  everything  to  do  in  connection  with 
the  work;  at  all  events,  expect  that  it  may  be  so,  and 
then  you  will  not  be  disappointed  if  it  so  turns  out. 
It  may  be  otherwise;  but  you  will  be  wise  if  you  go 
into  the  ministry  expecting  not  to  find  any  very  great 
assistance  from  the  people  in  the  work  of  soul-win- 
ning. Anticipate  that  you  will  have  to  do  it  yourself, 
and  to  do  it  alone;  and  begin  doing  it  alone,  sow  the 
seed,  tramp  up  and  down  the  field,  always  looking 
to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  bless  your  labour,  and 
also  looking  forward  to  the  time  when  through  your 
efforts,  under  the  divine  blessing,  instead  of  a  plot  of 
land  that  is  apparently  covered  with  nettles,  or  full  of 
stones,  or  weeds,  or  thorns,  or  partly  trodden  down, 
you  shall  have  a  well-tilled  farm  in  which  you  may  sow 
the  seed  to  the  best  advantage,  and  on  which  you  shall 


122  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

have  a  little  army  of  fellow-labourers  to  aid  you  in  the 

service.    Yet  all  that  is  the  work  of  time. 

I  should  certainly  say  to  you,  do  not  expect  all 
this  at  least  for  some  months  after  you  settle  down  to 
work.  Revivals,  if  they  are  genuine,  do  not  always 
come  the  moment  we  whistle  for  them.  Try  and  whistle 
for  the  wind,  and  see  if  it  will  come.  The  great  rain 
was  given  in  answer  to  Elijah's  prayers;  but  not  even 
then  the  first  time  he  prayed,  and  we  must  pray  again, 
and  again,  and  again,  and  at  last  the  cloud  will  appear, 
and  the  showers  out  of  the  cloud.  Wait  a  while,  work 
on,  plod  on,  plead  on,  and  in  due  time  the  blessing 
will  be  given,  and  you  shall  find  that  you  have  the 
church  after  your  own  ideal,  but  it  will  not  come  to 
you  all  at  once.  I  do  not  think  Mr.  John  Angell  James, 
of  Birmingham,  saw  much  fruit  to  his  ministry  for 
many  years.  As  far  as  I  remember,  Carr's  Lane  Chapel 
was  not  the  place  of  any  great  notoriety  before  he 
preached  there;  but  he  kept  on  steadily  preaching  the 
gospel,  and  at  last  he  drew  around  him  a  company  of 
godly  people  who  helped  to  make  him  the  greatest 
power  for  good  that  Birmingham  had  at  that  time.  Try 
to  do  just  the  same,  and  do  not  expect  to  see  all  at 
once  what  he  and  other  faithful  ministers  have  only 
been  able  to  accomplish  in  many  years. 

In  order  to  secure  this  end  of  gathering  around  you 
a  band  of  Christians  who  will  themselves  be  soul-win- 
ners, I  should  recommend  you  not  to  go  to  work 
according  to  atiy  set  rule,  for  what  would  be  right  at 
one  time  might  not  be  wise  at  another,  and  that  which 
would  be  best  for  one  place  would  not  be  so  good 
elsewhere.  Sometimes,  the  very  best  plan  would  be 
to  call  all  the  members  of  the  church  together,  tell 
them  what  you  would  like  to  see,  and  plead  earnestly 
with  them  that  each  one  should  become  for  God  a 


HOW  TO  INDUCE  OUR  PEOPLE  TO  WIN  SOULS.    123 

soul-winner.  Say  to  them,  "I  do  not  want  to  be  your 
pastor  simply  that  I  may  preach  to  you;  but  I  long 
to  see  souls  saved,  and  to  see  those  who  are  saved 
seeking  to  win  others  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  You 
know  how  the  Pentecostal  blessing  was  given ;  when 
the  whole  church  met,  with  one  accord  in  one  place, 
and  continued  in  prayer  and  supplication,  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  poured  out,  and  thousands  were  converted. 
Cannot  we  get  together  in  like  manner,  and  all  of  us 
cry  mightily  to  God  for  a  blessing?"  That  might  suc- 
ceed in  arousing  them.  Calling  them  together,  and 
earnestly  pleading  with  them  about  the  matter,  point- 
ing out  what  you  wish  them  specially  to  do,  and  to 
ask  of  God,  may  be  like  setting  a  light  to  dry  fuel; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  nothing  may  come  of  it  because 
of  their  lack  of  sympathy  in  the  work  of  soul-saving. 
They  may  say,  "It  is  a  very  nice  meeting,  and  our 
pastor  expects  a  good  deal  of  us,  and  we  all  wish  he 
may  get  it,"  and  there  it  will  end  so  far  as  they  are 
concerned. 

Then,  if  that  should  not  succeed,  God  may  lead  you 
to  begin  with  one  or  two.  There  is  usually  some 
"choice  young  man"  in  each  congregation;  and  as 
you  notice  deeper  spirituality  in  him  than  in  the  rest 
of  the  members,  you  might  say  to  him,  "Will  you  come 
down  to  my  house  on  such-and-such  an  evening  that 
we  may  have  a  little  prayer  together?"  You  can  grad- 
ually increase  the  number  to  two  or  three,  godly  young 
men  if  possible,  or  you  may  begin  with  some  gracious 
matron,  who  perhaps  lives  nearer  to  God  than  any 
of  the  men,  and  whose  prayers  would  help  you  more 
than  theirs.  Having  secured  their  sympathy,  you 
might  say  to  them,  "Now  we  will  try  if  we  cannot  influ- 
ence the  whole  church ;  we  will  begin  with  our  fellow- 
members  before  we  go  to  the  outsiders.    Let  us  try 


124  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

and  be  ourselves  always  at  the  prayer-meetings,  to  set 
an  example  to  the  rest,  and  let  us  also  arrange  to  have 
gatherings  for  prayer  in  our  own  houses,  and  seek  to 
get  our  brethren  and  sisters  to  them.  You,  good  sis- 
ter, can  get  half-a-dozen  sisters  together  into  your 
house  for  a  little  meeting;  and  you,  brother,  can  say 
to  a  few  friends,  'Could  we  not  meet  together  to  pray 
for  our  pastor?'"  Sometimes,  the  most  effectual  way 
to  burn  a  house  is  to  do  it  by  pouring  petroleum  down 
the  middle  of  it,  and  setting  fire  to  it,  as  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  ( !)  did  in  Paris  in  the  days  of  the  Commune ; 
and,  sometimes,  the  shortest  method  is  to  light  it  at 
the  four  corners.  I  have  never  tried  either  plan;  but 
that  is  what  I  think.  I  like  to  burn  churches  rather 
than  houses,  because  they  do  not  burn  down,  they 
burn  up,  and  keep  on  burning  when  the  fire  is  of  the 
right  sort.  When  a  bush  is  nothing  but  a  bush,  it  is 
soon  consumed  when  it  is  set  on  fire;  but  when  it  is 
a  bush  that  burns  on  and  is  not  consumed,  w^e  may 
know  that  God  is  there.  So  is  it  with  a  church  that 
is  flaming  with  holy  zeal.  Your  work,  brethren,  is  to 
set  your  church  on  fire  somehow.  You  may  do  it  by 
speaking  to  the  whole  of  the  members,  or  you  may 
do  it  by  speaking  to  the  few  choice  spirits,  but  you 
must  do  it  somehow.  Have  a  secret  society  for  this 
sacred  purpose,  turn  yourselves  into  a  band  of  celestial 
Fenians  whose  aim  it  is  to  set  the  whole  church  on 
fire.  If  you  do  so,  the  devil  will  not  like  it,  and  you 
will  cause  him  such  disquiet  that  he  will  seek  the  utter 
break  up  of  the  union,  and  that  is  just  what  we  want; 
w^e  do  not  desire  anything  but  war  to  the  knife  betw^een 
the  church  and  the  v^orld  and  all  its  habits  and  cus- 
toms. But  again  I  say,  all  this  will  take  time.  I  have 
seen  some  fellows  run  so  fast  at  first  that  they  have 
soon  become  like  broken-winded    horses,    and   truly 


HOW  TO  INDUCE  OUR  PEOPLE  TO  WIN  SOULS.     125 

that  is  a  pitiable  sight;  so  take  time,  brethren,  and  do 
not  look  for  everything  you  desire  to  be  secured  all 
at  once. 

I  suppose  that,  in  most  places,  there  is  a  prayer- 
meeting  on  Monday  night.  If  you  want  your  people  \ 
as  well  as  yourself  to  be  soul-winners,  try_  and  keep  up  \J 
the  prayer-ntcctings  all  you  can.  Do  not  be  like  cer- 
tain ministers  in  the  suburbs  of  London,  who  say  that 
they  cannot  get  the  people  out  to  a  prayer-meeting 
and  a  lecture,  too,  so  they  have  one  week-night  meet- 
ing for  prayer,  at  which  they  give  a  short  address. 
One  lazy  man  said,  the  other  day,  that  the  week-night 
address  was  almost  as  bad  as  delivering  a  sermon,  so 
he  has  a  prayer-meeting  and  a  lecture  combined  in  one, 
and  it  is  neither  a  prayer-meeting  nor  a  lecture,  it  is 
neither  fish,  flesh,  fowl,  nor  good  red-herring;  and 
soon  he  will  give  it  up  because  he  says  it  is  no  good, 
and  I  am  sure  the  people  think  so,  too.  And  after 
that,  why  should  he  not  give  up  one  of  the  Sunday 
services?  The  same  reasoning  might  apply  to  that 
as  to  the  week-night  meeting.  I  saw,  in  an  American 
paper  to-day,  the  following  paragraph: — "The  well- 
known  fact  is  again  going  the  rounds  that,  in  Mr. 
Spurgeon's  church  in  London,  the  regular  hearers 
absent  themselves  one  Sunday  evening  every  three 
months,  and  the  house  is  given  up  to  strangers.  Eng- 
lish 'boasting  is  excluded'  in  this  matter.  Our  Amer- 
ican Christianity  is  of  so  noble  a  type  that  hosts  of  our 
people  give  up  their  pews  to  strangers  every  Sunday 
night  in  the  year."  I  hope  it  will  not  be  so  with  your 
people,  brethren,  either  with  respect  to  the  Sabbath 
services  or  the  prayer-meetings. 

If  I  were  you,  I  would  make  that  prayer-meeting  a 
special  feature  of  my  ministry;  let  it  be  such  a  prayer- 
meeting  that  there  is  not  the  like  of  it  within  seven 


126  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

thousand  miles.  Do  not  go  walking  into  the  prayer- 
meeting,  as  so  many  do,  to  say  anything  or  nothing 
that  may  occur  to  you  at  the  moment;  but  do  your 
best  to  make  the  meeting  interesting  to  all  who  are 
there;  and  do  not  hesitate  to  tell  good  Mr.  Snooks 
that,  God  helping  you,  he  shall  not  pray  for  five-and- 
twenty  minutes.  Earnestly  entreat  him  to  cut  it  short, 
and  if  he  does  not,  then  stop  him.  If  a  man  came 
into  my  house  intending  to  cut  my  wife's  throat,  I 
would  reason  with  him  as  to  the  wrong  of  it,  and  then 
I  would  ef¥ectually  prevent  him  from  doing  her  any 
harm ;  and  I  love  the  church  almost  as  much  as  I  love 
my  dear  wife.  So,  if  a  nian  will  pray  long,  he  may 
pray  long  somewhere  else,  but  not  at  the  meeting 
over  which* I  am  presiding.  Tell  him  to  finish  it  up 
at  home  if  he  cannot  pray  in  public  for  a  reasonable 
length  of  time.  If  the  people  seem  dull  and  heavy, 
get  them  to  sing  Moody  and  Sankey  hymns;  and  then, 
when  they  can  sing  them  all  by  heart,  do  not  have 
any  more  "Moody  and  Sankey"  for  a  time,  but  go  back 
to  your  own  hymn  book. 

Keep  up  the  prayer  meeting,  whatever  else  flags; 
it  is  the  great  business  evening  of  the  week,  the  best 
service  between  Sabbaths;  be  you  sure  to  make  it 
so.  If  you  find  that  your  people  cannot  come  in  the 
evening,  try  and  have  a  prayer  meeting  when  they 
can  come.  You  might  get  a  good  meeting  in  the 
country  at  half-past  four  in  the  morning.  Why  not? 
You  would  get  more  people  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing than  you  would  at  five  o'clock  at  the  other  end 
of  the  day.  I  believe  that  a  prayer-meeting  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  morning  among  agricultural  people 
would  attract  many;  they  would  drop  in,  and  just  have 
a  few  words  of  prayer,  and  be  glad  of  the  opportunity. 
Or  you  might  have  it  at  twelve  o'clock  at  night;  you 


HOW  TO  INDUCE  OUR  PEOPLE  TO  WIN  SOULS.     127 

would  find  some  people  out  then  whom  you  could 
not  get  at  any  other  time.  Try  one  o'clock,  or  two 
o'clock,  or  three  o'clock,  or  any  hour  of  the  day  or 
night,  so  as  somehow  or  other  to  get  the  people  out 
to  pray ;  and  if  they  cannot  be  induced  to  come  to  the 
meetings,  go  to  their  house,  and  say,  "I  am  going  to 
have  a  prayer  meeting  in  your  parlour."  *'Oh,  dear! 
my  wife  will  be  in  a  state."  "Oh,  no!  tell  her  not  to 
trouble,  for  we  can  go  into  the  coach-house,  or  garden, 
or  anywhere,  but  we  must  have  a  prayer  meeting  here." 
If  they  will  not  come  to  the  prayer  meeting,  we  must 
go  to  them;  suppose  that  fifty  of  us  go  trudging  down 
the  street,  and  hold  a  meeting  in  the  open  air;  well, 
there  might  be  many  worse  things  than  that.  Remem- 
ber how  the  women  fought  the  liquor  sellers  in  Amer- 
ica when  they  prayed  them  out  of  the  traffic.  If  we 
cannot  stir  the  people  without  doing  extraordinary 
things,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  good  and  great  let  us 
do  extraordinary  things,  but  somehow  we  must  keep 
up  the  prayer  meetings,  for  they  are  at  the  very  secret 
source  of  power  with  God  and  with   men. 

We  must  al7i'a};j  set  an  ear7iest  example  ourselves\  \ 
A  slow-coach  minister  will  not  have  a  lively,  zealous  \j 
church,  I  am  sure.  A  man  who  is  indifferent,  or  who 
does  his  work  as  if  he  took  it  as  easily  as  he  could 
ought  not  to  expect  to  have  a  people  around  him  who 
are  in  earnest  about  the  salvation  of  souls.  I  know 
that  you,  brethren,  desire  to  have  about  you  a  band 
of  Christians  who  long  for  the  salvation  of  their  friends 
and  neighbours,  a  set  of  people  who  will  be  always 
expecting  that  God  will  bless  the  preaching  of  your 
sermons,  who  will  watch  the  countenances  of  your 
hearers  to  see  if  they  are  getting  impressed,  and  who 
will  be  sorely  distressed  if  there  are  no  conversions, 
and  greatly  troubled  if  souls  are  not  saved.    Perhaps 


128  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

they  would  not  complain  to  you  if  that  were  the  case, 
but  they  would  cry  to  God  on  your  behalf.  Possibly, 
they  would  also  speak  to  you  about  the  matter.  1 
remember  one  of  my  deacons  saying  to  me,  as  we  were 
going  down  to  the  communion,  one  Sabbath  evening, 
when  we  had  only  fourteen  to  receive  into  the  church, 
''Governor,  this  won't  pay."  We  had  been  accustomed 
to  have  forty  or  fifty  every  month,  and  the  good  man 
was  not  satisfied  with  a  smaller  number.  I  agreed 
with  him  that  we  must  have  more  than  that  in  the 
future  if  it  was  possible.  I  suppose  some  brethren  would 
have  felt  annoyed  to  have  had  anything  like  that  re- 
mark made  to  them;  but  I  was  delighted  with  what 
mv  good  deacon  said;  for  it  was  just  what  I  mvself 
felt. 

Then,  next,  7i'e  waiii  around  us  Christians  who  ar^  j 
willing  to  do  all  they  can  to  help  in  the  work  of  win\l 
ning  souls.  There  are  numbers  of  people  who  can- 
not be  reached  by  the  pastor.  You  must  tr}'  to  get 
some  Christian  workers  who  will  "buttton-hole"  peo- 
ple, you  know  what  I  mean.  It  is  pretty  close  work 
when  you  hold  a  friend  by  a  lock  of  his  hair,  or  by  his 
coat-button.  Absalom  did  not  find  it  easy  to  get  away 
when  he  was  caught  in  the  oak  by  the  hair  of  his 
head.  So,  try  to  get  at  close  quarters  with  sinners; 
talk  gently  to  them  till  you  have  whispered  them  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  till  you  have  told  into  their 
ears  the  blessed  story  that  will  bring  peace  and  joy 
to  their  heart.  We  want  in  the  Church  of  Christ  a 
band  of  well-trained  sharpshooters,  who  will  pick  the 
people  out  individually,  and  be  always  on  the  watch 
for  all  who  come  into  the  place,  not  annoying  them, 
but  making  sure  that  they  do  not  go  away  without 
having  had  a  personal  warning,  a  personal  invitation, 
and  a  personal  exhortation  to  come  to  Christ.     We 


HOW  TO  INDUCE  OUR  PEOPLE  TO  WIN  SOUI^S.  120 

want  to  train  all  our  people  for  this  service,  so  as  to 
make  Salvation  Armies  out  of  them.  Every  man, 
woman  or  child  who  is  in  our  churches  should  be  set 
to  work  for  tlie  Lord.  Then  they  will  not  relish  the 
fine  sermons  that  the  Americans  seem  to  delight  in 
so  much;  but  they  will  say,  "Pooh!  Flummery!  We 
don't  want  that  kind  of  thing."  What  do  people  who 
are  at  work  in  the  harvest  field  want  with  thunder  and 
lightning?  They  want  just  to  rest  a  while  under  a  tree, 
to  wipe  the  sweat  from  their  foreheads,  to  refresh  them- 
selves after  their  toil,  and  then  to  get  to  work  again. 
Our  preaching  ought  to  be  like  the  address  of  a  com- 
mander-in-chief to  his  army,  "There  are  the  enemy; 
do  not  let  me  know  where  they  are  to-morrow."  Some- 
thing short,  something  sweet,  something  that  stirs  and 
impresses  them,  is  what  our  people  need. 

We  are  sure  to  get  the  blessing  we  are  seeking  when  \ 
the  whole  afmosphere  in  which  we  are  living  is  favour- 
able to  soul-winning,  I  remember  one  of  our  friends 
saying  to  me  one  evening,  "There  will  be  sure  to  be 
a  blessing  to-night,  there  is  such  a  lot  of  dew  about.'' 
May  you  often  know  what  it  is  to  preach  where  there 
is  plenty  of  dew!  The  Irishman  said  that  it  was  no 
use  to  irrigate  while  the  sun  was  shining,  for  he  had 
noticed  that,  whenever  it  rained,  there  were  clouds 
about,  so  that  the  sun  was  hidden.  There  was  a  great 
deal  of  sense  in  that  observation,  more  than  appears 
at  first  sight,  as  there  usually  is  in  Hibernian  state- 
ments. The  shower  benefits  the  plants  because  every- 
thing is  suitable  for  the  rain  to  come  down,  the  shaded 
sky,  the  humidity  of  the  atmosphere,  the  general  feel- 
ing of  everything  is  damp  all  around;  but  if  you  were 
to  pour  the  same  quantity  of  water  down  while  the 
sun  was  shining  brightly,  the  leaves  would  probably 
be  turned  yellow,  and  in  the  heat  they  would  shrivel 


130  THE  SOUL-\VINNER. 

and  die.  Any  gardener  would  tell  you  that  he  is  always 
careful  to  water  the  flowers  in  the  evening  when  the 
sun  is  off  them.  This  is  the  reason  why  irrigation, 
however  well  it  is  done,  is  not  so  beneficial  as  the  rain ; 
there  must  be  a  favourable  influence  in  the  whole  at- 
mosphere if  the  plants  and  flowers  are  to  derive  benefit 
from  the  moistening.  It  is  just  so  in  spiritual  things. 
I  have  often  noticed  that,  when  God  blesses  my  min- 
istry to  an  unusual  extent,  the  people  in  general  are  in 
a  praying  mood.  It  is  a  grand  thing  to  preach  in 
an  atmosphere  full  of  the  dew  of  the  Spirit.  I  know 
what  it  is  to  preach  with  it;  and,  alas!  I  know  what 
it  is  to  preach  without  it.  Then  is  it  like  Gilboa,  when 
there  was  no  dew  nor  rain.  You  may  preach,  and 
you  may  hope  that  God  will  bless  your  message;  but 
it  is  no  use.  I  hope  it  will  not  be  so  with  you,  brethren. 
Perhaps  your  lot  will  be  cast  where  some  dear  brother 
has  long  been  toiling,  and  prajing,  and  labouring  for 
the  Lord,  and  you  will  find  all  the  people  just  ready 
for  the  blessing. 

I  often  feel,  when  I  go  out  to  preach,  that  there  is 
no  credit  due  to  me,  for  everything  is  in  my  favour. 
There  sit  the  good  folk,  with  their  mouths  open,  wait- 
ing for  the  blessing;  almost  everybody  there  is  ex- 
pecting me  to  say  something  good,  and  because  they 
are  all  looking  for  it,  it  does  them  good,  and  when  I 
am  gone  they  keep  on  praying  for  the  blessing,  and 
they  get  it.  When  a  man  is  put  on  a  horse  that  runs 
away  with  him,  he  must  ride;  that  is  just  how  it  has 
frequently  been  with  me,  the  blessing  has  been  given 
because  all  the  surroundings  were  favourable.  You 
may  often  trace  the  happy  results  not  only  to  the  preach- 
er's discourse,  but  to  all  the  circumstances  connected 
with  Its  delivery.  It  was  so  with  Peter's  sermon  that 
brought  three  thousand  souls  to  Christ  on  the  day  of 


HOW  TO  INDUCE  OUR  PEOPLE  TO  WIN  SOUI^.  131 

Pentecost;  there  never  was  a  better  sermon  preached, 
it  was  a  plain,  personal  message  likely  to  convince 
people  of  the  sin  of  their  treatment  of  the  Saviour  in 
putting  Him  to  death;  but  I  do  not  attribute  the  con- 
versions to  the  apostle's  words  alone,  for  there  were 
clouds  about,  the  whole  atmosphere  was  damp;  as  my 
-friend  said  to  me,  there  was  "plenty  of  dew  about." 
Had  not  the  disciples  been  long  continuing  in  prayer 
and  supplication  for  the  descent  of  the  Spirit,  and  had 
not  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  every  one  of  them 
as  well  as  upon  Peter?  In  the  fulness  of  time,  the 
Pentecostal  blessing  was  poured  out  most  copiously. 
Whenever  a  church  gets  into  the  same  state  as  that  of 
the  apostles  and  disciples  at  that  memorable  period, 
the  whole  heavenly  electricity  is  concentrated  at  that 
particular  spot.  Yet  you  remember  that  even  Christ 
Himself  could  not  do  many  mighty  works  in  some 
places  because  of  the  people's  unbelief,  and  I  am  sure 
that  all  His  servants  who  are  thoroughly  in  earnest  are 
at  times  hampered  in  the  same  way.  Some  of  our 
brethren  who  are  here  have,  I  fear,  a  worldly,  Christ- 
less  people;  still,  I  am  not  sure  that  they  ought  to  run 
away  from  them ;  I  think  that,  if  possible,  they  should 
stop,  and  try  to  make  them  more  Christlike. 

It  is  true  that  I  have  had  the  other  sort  of  experi- 
ence, as  well  as  the  joyous  one  I  have  been  describ- 
ing. I  remember  preaching  one  night  in  a  place  where 
they  had  not  had  a  minister  for  some  time.  When  I 
reached  the  chapel  I  did  not  have  any  kind  of  wel- 
come ;  the  authorities  were  to  receive  pecuniary  benefit 
if  nothing  else  from  my  visit,  but  they  did  not  welcome 
mei  at  all;  they  said,  in  fact,  that  there  had  been  a 
maiority  at  the  church  meetinpf  in  favour  of  invitinc: 
me,  but  the  deacons  did  not  approve  of  it  because  they 
did  not  think  I  -vvas  "sound."    There  were  some  breth- 


132  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

ren  and  sisters  froii)  other  churches  there;  they  seemed 
pleased  and  profited,  but  the  people  who  belonged  to 
the  place  did  not  gxt  a  blessing;  they  had  not  expected 
one,  so  of  course  they  did  not  receive  it.  When  the 
service  was  over  I  went  into  the  vestry,  and  there 
stood  the  two  deacons,  one  on  each  side  of  the  man- 
telpiece. I  said  to  them,  ''Are  you  the  deacons?"  ^ 
"Yes,"  they  answered.  "The  churcli  does  not  prosper, 
does  it?"  I  asked.  "No,"  they  replied.  "I  should  not 
think  it  would  with  such  deacons,"  I  said.  ''Did  I 
know  anything  against  them?"  they  asked.  "No,"  I 
said,  "but  I  did  not  know  anything  in  their  favour." 
I  thought  that,  if  I  could  not  get  at  them  in  the  mass, 
I  would  try  what  I  could  do  with  one  or  two.  I  was 
glad  to  know  that  my  sermon  or  my  remarks  after- 
wards led  to  an  improvement,  and  there  is  one  of 
our  brethren  there,  and  doing  well  to  this  day.  One 
of  the  deacons  was  so  irritated  by  what  I  said  that  he 
left  the  place,  but  the  other  deacon  was  irritated  the 
right  way,  so  that  he  remained  there,  and  laboured 
and  prayed  until  better  days  came.  It  is  hard  when 
you  are  rowing  against  wind  and  tide,  but  it  is  worse 
even  than  that  if  you  have  a  horse  on  the  bank  pull- 
ing a  rope,  and  dragging  your  boat  the  other  way. 
Well,  never  mind,  brethren,  if  that  is  your  case,  but 
work  away  all  the  harder,  and  pull  the  horse  into  the 
water.  Still,  remember  tliat  when  once  a  favourable 
atmosphere  is  created,  then  the  difficulty  is  to  main- 
tain it.  You  notice  that  I  said,  "When  the  atmosphere 
is  created,"  and  tliat  expression  reminds  us  how  little 
we  can  do,  or  rather  that  we  can  do  nothing  without 
God,  for  it  is  He  who  has  to  do  with  atmospheres.  He 
alone  can  create  them  and  maintain  them;  therefore, 
our  eyes  must  be  continually  lifted  up  to  Him,  whence 
Cometh  all  our  help. 


HOW  TO  INDUCE  OUR  PEOPLE  TO  WIN  SOULS.  133 

It  may  happen  that  sonic  of  you  do  preach  very 
earnestly  and  well,  and  sermons  that  are  likely  to  be 
blessed,  and  yet  you  do  not  see  sinners  saved.  Well, 
do  not  leave  off  preaching;  but  say  to  yourself,  "I 
must  try  to  gather  around  me  a  number  of  people 
who  will  be  all  praying  with  me  and  for  me,  and  who 
will  talk  to  their  friends  about  the  things  of  God,  and 
who  will  so  live  and  labour  that  the  Lord  will  give  a 
blessed  shower  of  grace  because  all  the  surroundings 
are  suitable  thereto,  and  help  to  make  the  blessing 
come.  I  have  heard  ministers  say  that  when  they  have 
preached  in  the  Tabernacle,  there  has  been  something 
in  the  congregation  that  has  had  a  wonderfully  pow^- 
erful  effect  upon  them.  I  think  it  is  because  we  have 
good  prayer  meetings,  because  there  is  an  earnest 
spirit  of  prayer  among  the  people,  and  because  so  many 
of  them  are  on  the  watch  for  souls.  There  is  one  broth- 
er especially  who  is  always  looking  after  any  hearers 
who  have  been  impressed ;  I  call  him  my  hunting  dog, 
and  he  is  ever  ready  to  pick  up  the  birds  I  have  shot  and 
bring  them  to  me.  I  have  known  him  waylay  them  one 
after  another,  that  he  might  bring  them  to  Jesus;  and 
I  rejoice  that  I  have  other  friends  of  this  kind.  When 
our  brethren,  Fullerton  and  Smith,  had  been  conduct- 
ing some  special  services  for  a  very  eminent  preacher 
who  is  in  the  habit  of  using  rather  long  words,  he  said 
that  the  evangelists  had  the  faculty  for  "the  precipita- 
tion of  decision."  He  meant  that  the  Lord  blessed  them 
in  bringing  men  to  decision  for  Christ.  It  is  a  grand 
thing  when  a  man  has  the  faculty  for  the  precipitation 
of  decision;  but  it  is  an  equally  grand  thing  when  he 
has  a  number  of  people  around  him  who  say  to  each 
hearer  after  every  service,  "Well,  friend,  did  you  enjoy 
that  discourse?  Was  there  something  in  it  for  you? 
Are  vou  saved?    Do  vou  know^  the  w-ay  to  salvation?" 


134  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

Always  have  your  own  Bible  ready,  and  turn  to  the 
passages  you  want  to  quote  to  the  enquirers.  I  often 
noticed  that  friend  of  mine,  of  whom  I  spoke  just  now, 
and  he  seemed  to  me  to  open  his  Bible  at  most  appro- 
pi  iate  passages,  he  appeared  to  have  them  all  ready 
land  handy,  so  that  he  would  be  sure  to  hit  on  the  righ^ 
texts.  You  know  the  sort  of  texts  I  mean,  just  those 
that  a  seeking  soul  wants:  'The  Son  of  man  is  come 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  "He  that 
believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life."  "The  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 
"Him  that  cometh  to  Me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 
''Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall 
be  saved."  Well,  this  brother  has  a  number  of  such 
passages  printed  in  bold  type,  and  fastened  inside  his 
Bible,  so  that  he  can  refer  to  the  right  one  in  a  moment, 
and  many  troubled  souls  has  he  thus  led  to  the  Saviour. 
You  will  not  be  unwise  if  you  adopt  some  such  method 
as  he  has  found  so  exceedingly  helpful. 

Now  lastly,  brethren,  do  not  be  afraid  when  you  go 
to  a  place,  and  find  it  in  a  very  bad  condition.  It  is 
a  fine  thing  for  a  young  man  to  begin  with  a  real 
downright  bad  prospect,  for,  with  the  right  kind  of 
work,  there  must  come  an  improvement  some  time  or 
other.  If  the  chapel  is  all  but  empty  when  you  go  to 
it,  it  cannot  well  be  in  a  much  worse  state  than  that; 
and  the  probability  is  that  you  will  be  the  means  of 
bringing  some  into  the  church,  and  so  making  matters- 
better.  If  there  is  any  place  where  I  would  choose 
to  labour,  it  would  be  just  on  the  borders  of  the  in- 
fernal lake,  for  I  really  believe  that  it  would  bring  more 
glory  to  God  to  work  among  those  who  are  accounted 
the  worst  of  sinners.  If  your  ministry  Is  blessed  to 
such  people  as  these,  they  will  be  likely  to  cling  to  you 
through  your  whole  life;   but  the  very  worst  sort  of 


HOW  TO  INDUCE  OUR  PEOPLE  TO  WIN  SOULS.  135 

people  are  those  who  have  long  been  professing  Chris- 
tians, but  who  are  destitute  of  grace,  having  a  name  to 
live,  and  yet  being  dead.  Alas!  there  are  people  like 
that  among  our  deacons,  and  among  our  church  mem- 
bers, and  we  cannot  get  them  out;  and,  as  long  as 
they  remain  they  exert  a  most  baneful  influence.  It 
is  dreadful  to  have  dead  members  w^here  every  single 
part  of  the  body  should  be  instinct  with  divine  life;  yet 
in  many  cases  it  is  so,  and  we  are  powerless  to  cure  the 
evil.  We  must  let  the  tares  grow  until  the  harvest;  but 
the  best  thing  to  do,  when  you  cannot  root  up  the  tares, 
is  to  water  the  wheat,  for  there  is  nothing  that  will  keep 
back  the  tares  like  good  strong  wheat.  I  have  known 
ungodly  men  who  have  had  the  place  made  so  hot  for 
them  that  they  have  been  glad  to  clear  right  out  of 
the  church.  They  have  said,  'The  preaching  is  too 
strong  for  us,  and  these  people  are  too  Puritanical 
and  too  strict  to  suit  us."  What  a  blessing  it  is  when 
that  is  the  case !  We  did  not  wash  to  drive  them  away 
by  preaching  the  truth ;  but  as  they  went  of  their  own 
accord,  we  certainly  do  not  want  them  back,  and  we 
will  leave  them  where  they  are  praying  the  Lord,  in 
the  greatness  of  His  grace,  to  turn  them  from  the 
error  of  their  ways,  and  to  bring  them  to  Himself,  and 
then  we  shall  be  glad  to  have  them  back  with  us  to 
live  and  labour  for  the  Lord. 


HOW  TO  RAISE  THE  DEAD. 


AN  ADDRESS  TO  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  TEACHERS. 


HOW  TO  RAISE  THE  DEAD, 


Fellow-labourers  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord,  let 
me  call  your  attention  to  a  most  instructive  miracle 
wrought  by  the  prophet  Elisha,  as  recorded  in  the 
fourth  chapter  of  the  Second  Book  of  Kings.  The  hos- 
pitality of  the  Shunammite  woman  had  been  rewarded 
by  the  gift  of  a  son;  but,  alas!  all  earthly  mercies  are 
of  uncertain  tenure,  and  after  certain  days  the  child  fell 
sick  and  died. 

The  distressed  but  believing  mother  hastened  at  once 
to  the  man  of  God ;  through  him  God  had  spoken  the 
promise  which  fulfilled  her  heart's  desire,  and  she  re- 
solved to  plead  her  case  with  him,  that  he  might  lay 
it  before  his  Divine  Master,  and  obtain  for  her  an  an- 
swer of  peace.  Elisha's  action  is  recorded  in  the  fol- 
lowing verses: 

"Then  he  said  to  Gehazi,  Gird  up  thy  loins,  and  take 
my  stafif  in  thine  hand,  and  go  thy  way;  if  thou  meet 
any  man,  salute  him  not;  and  if  any  salute  thee,  answer 
him  not  again:  and  lay  my  stafY  upon  the  face  of  the 
child.  And  the  mother  of  the  child  said.  As  the  Lord 
liveth,  and  as  thy  soul  liveth,  I  will  not  leave  thee. 
And  he  arose,  and  followed  her.  And  Gehazi  passed 
on  before  them,  and  laid  the  stafif  upon  the  face  of  the 
child;  but  there  was  neither  voice,  nor  hearing.  Where- 
fore he  went  again  to  meet  him,  and  told  him,  saying, 
The  child  is  not  awaked.    And  when  Elisha  was  come 


140  THE  SOUL  WINNER. 

into  the  house,  behold,  the  child  was  dead,  and  laid 
upon  his  bed.  He  went  in  therefore,  and  shut  the  door 
upon  them  twain,  and  prayed  unto  the  Lord.  And  he 
went  up,  and  lay  upon  the  child,  and  put  his  mouth 
upon  his  mouth,  and  his  eyes  upon  his  eyes,  and  his 
hands  upon  his  hands;  and  he  stretched  himself  upon 
the  child ;  and  the  flesh  of  the  child  waxed  warm.  Then 
he  returned,  and  walked  in  the  house  to  and  fro;  and 
went  up,  and  stretched  himself  upon  him ;  and  the  child 
sneezed  seven  times,  and  the  child  opened  his  eyes. 
And  he  called  Gehazi,  and  said,  Call  this  Shunammite. 
So  he  called  her.  And  when  she  was  come  in  unto 
him,  he  said,  Take  up  thy  son.  Then  she  went  in,  and 
fell  at  his  feet,  and  bowed  herself  to  the  ground,  and 
took  up  her  son,  and  went  out." — 2  Kings  iv.,  29-37. 

The  position  of  Elisha  in  this  case  is  exactly  your 
position,  brethren,  in  relation  to  your  work  for  Christ. 
Elisha  had  to  deal  with  a  dead  child.  It  is  true  that, 
in  his  instance,  it  was  natural  death;  but  the  death 
with  which  you  have  to  come  in  contact  is  not  the 
less  real  death  because  it  is  spiritual.  The  boys  and 
girls  in  your  classes  are,  as  surely  as  grown-up  people, 
"dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  May  none  of  you  fail 
fully  to  realise  the  state  in  which  all  human  beings  are 
naturally  found!  Unless  you  have  a  very  clear  sense 
of  the  utter  ruin  and  spiritual  death  of  your  children, 
you  will  be  incapable  of  being  made  a  blessing  to 
them.  Go  to  them,  I  pray  you,  not  as  to  sleepers  whom 
you  can  by  your  own  power  awaken  from  their  slum- 
ber, but  as  to  spiritual  corpses  who  can  only  be  quick- 
ened by  a  power  divine.  Elisha's  great  object  was 
not  to  cleanse  the  dead  body,  or  embalm  it  with  spices, 
or  wrap  it  in  fine  linen,  or  place  it  in  an  appropriate 
posture,  and  then  leave  it  still  a  corpse:  he  aimed  at 


HOW  TO  RAISE  THE  DEAD.  141 

nothing  less  than  the  restoration  of  the  child  to  life. 
Beloved  teachers,  may  you  never  be  content  with  aim- 
ing at  secondary  benefits,  or  even  with  realising 
them;  may  you  strive  for  the  grandest  of  all  ends, 
the  salvation  of  immortal  souls!  Your  business  is  not 
merely  to  teach  the  children  in  your  classes  to  read  the 
Bible,  not  barely  to  inculcate  the  duties  of  morality,  nor 
even  to  instruct  them  in  the  mere  letter  of  the  gospel, 
but  your  high  calling  is  to  be  the  means,  in  the  hands 
of  God,  of  bringing  life  from  heaven  to  dead  souls. 
Your  teaching  on  the  Lord's  Day  will  have  been  a  fail- 
ure if  your  children  remain  dead  in  sin.  In  the  case 
of  the  secular  teacher,  the  child's  fair  proficiency  in 
knowledge  will  prove  that  the  instructor  has  not  lost 
his  pains;  but  in  your  case,  even  though  your  youth- 
ful charges  should  grow  up  to  be  respectable  members 
of  society,  though  they  should  become  regular  at- 
tendants upon  the  means  of  grace,  you  will  not  feel  that 
your  petitions  to  heaven  have  been  answered,  nor  your 
desires  granted  to  you,  nor  your  highest  ends  attained, 
unless  something  more  is  done — unless,  in  fact,  it  can 
be  said  of  your  children,  "The  Lord  hath  quickened 
them  together  with  Christ." 

Resurrection,  then,  is  our  aim!  To  raise  the  dead  is 
our  mission/  We  are  Hke  Peter  at  Joppa,  or  Paul  at 
Troas,  we  have  a  young  Dorcas  or  Eutychus  to  bring 
to  life.  How  is  so  strange  a  work  to  be  achieved?  If 
we  yield  to  unbelief,  we  shall  be  staggered  by  the  evi- 
dent fact  that  the  work  to  which  the  Lord  has  called 
us  is  quite  beyond  our  own  personal  power.  We  can- 
not raise  the  dead.  If  asked  to  do  so,  we  might  each 
one  of  us,  like  the  king  of  Israel,  rend  our  clothes,  and 
say,  "Am  I  God,  to  kill  and  to  make  alive?"  We  are, 
however,  no  more  powerless  than  Elislia,  for  he  him- 
self could  not  restore  the  Shunammite's  son.    It  is  true 


142  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

that  we  by  ourselves  cannot  bring  the  dead  hearts  of 
our  scholars  to  palpitate  with  spiritual  life,  but  a  Paul 
or  an  Apollos  would  have  been  equally  as  poweriess. 
Need  this  fact  discourage  us?  Does  it  not  rather  direct 
us  to  our  true  power  by  shutting  us  out  from  our  own 
fancied  might?  I  trust  we  are  all  of  us  already  aware 
that  the  man  who  lives  in  the  region  of  faith  dwells  in 
the  realm  of  miracles.  Faith  trades  in  marvels,  and  her 
merchandise  is  with  wonders. 

"Faith,  mighty  faith,  the  promise  sees. 
And  looks  to  that  alone; 
Laughs  at  impossibilities, 
And  cries,  'It  shall  be  done.'  '* 

Elisha  was  no  comijwn  mafi  now  that  God's  Spirit 
was  upon  him,  calling  him  to  God's  work,  and  aiding 
him  in  it.  And  you,  devoted,  anxious,  prayerful  teach- 
er, remain  no  longer  a  common  being;  you  have  be- 
come, in  a  special  manner,  the  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  God  dwelleth  in  you,  and  you  by  faith  have 
entered  upon  the  career  of  a  wonder-worker.  You 
are  sent  into  the  world  not  to  do  the  things  which  are 
possible  to  man,  but  those  impossibilities  which  God 
worketh  by  His  Spirit,  by  the  means  of  His  believing 
people.  You  are  to  work  miracles,  to  do  marvels. 
You  are  not,  therefore,  to  look  upon  the  restoration 
of  these  dead  children,  which  in  God's  name  you  are 
called  to  bring  about,  as  being  a  thing  unlikely  or 
difficult  when  you  remember  who  it  is  that  works  by 
your  feeble  instrumentality.  ''Why  should  it  be  thought 
a  thing  incredible  with  you  that  God  should  raise  the 
dead?"  Unbelief  will  whisper  to  you,  as  you  mark 
the  wicked  giddiness  and  early  obstinacy  of  your  chil- 
dren, "Can  these  dry  bones  live?"  But  your  answer 
must  be,  "O,  Lord,  Thou  knowest."  Committing  all 
cases  to  the  almighty  hand,  it  is  yours  to  prophesy  to 


.  HOW  TO  RAISE  THE  DEAD.  14S 

the  dry  bones  and  to  the  heavenly  wind,  and  ere  long 
you,  too,  shall  see  in  the  valley  of  your  vision  the  signal 
triumph  of  life  over  death.  Let  us  take  up  at  this  mo- 
ment our  true  position  and  let  us  realise  it.  We 
have  dead  children  before  us,  and  our  souls  yearn 
to  bring  them  to  life.  We  confess  that  all  quickening 
must  be  wrought  by  the  Lord  alone,  and  our  humble 
petition  is  that,  if  the  Lord  will  use  us  in  connection 
with  His  miracles  of  grace,  He  would  now  show  us 
what  He  would  have  us  to  do. 

//  would  have  been  well  if  E  lis  ha  had  recollected  that 
he  was  once  the  servant  of  Elijah,  and  had  so  studied 
his  Master^s  example  as  to  have  i^nitated  it.  If  so,  he 
would  not  have  sent  Gehazi  with  a  stafY,  but  have  done 
at  once  what  at  last  he  was  constrained  to  do.  In  the 
First  Book  of  Kings,  at  the  seventeenth  chapter,  you 
will  find  the  story  of  Elijah's  raising  a  dead  child,  and 
you  will  there  see  that  Elijah,  the  master,  had  left  a  com- 
plete example  to  his  servant;  and  it  was  not  until 
Elisha  followed  it  in  all  respects  that  the  miraculous 
power  was  manifested.  It  had  been  wise,  I  say,  if 
Elisha  had,  at  the  outset,  imitated  the  example  of  the 
master  whose  mantle  he  wore.  With  far  more  force 
may  I  say  to  you,  my  fellow-servants,  that  it  will  be  well 
for  us  if,  as  teachers,  we  imitate  our  Master — if  we 
study  the  modes  and  methods  of  our  glorified  Master, 
and  learn  at  His  feet  the  art  of  winning  souls.  Just 
as  He  came  in  deepest  sympathy  into  the  nearest  con- 
tact with  our  wretched  humanity,  and  condescended 
to  stoop  to  our  sorrowful  condition,  so  must  we  come 
near  to  the  souls  with  whom  we  have  to  deal,  yearn  over 
them  with  His  yearning,  and  weep  over  them  with  His 
tears,  if  we  would  see  them  raised  from  the  state  of 
sin.  Only  by  imitating  the  spirit  and  manner  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  shall  we  become  wise  to  win  souls. 


114  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

Forgetting  this,  however,  EHsha  would  fain  strike 
out  a  course  for  himself,  which  would  more  clearly 
display  his  own  prophetic  dignity.  He  gave  his  staff 
into  the  hand  of  Gehazi,  his  servant,  and  bade  him 
lay  it  upon  the  child,  as  if  he  felt  that  the  divine  power 
was  so  plenteously  upon  him  that  it  would  work  in 
any  way,  and  consequently  his  own  personal  presence 
and  efforts  might  be  dispensed  with.  The  Lord's 
thoughts  were  not  so.  I  am  afraid  that  very  often 
the  truth  which  we  deliver  from  the  pulpit — and  doubt- 
less it  is  much  the  same  in  your  classes — is  a  thing 
which  is  extraneous  and  out  of  ourselves;  like  a  staff 
which  we  hold  in  our  hand,  but  which  is  not  a  part 
of  ourselves.  We  take  doctrinal  or  practical  truth  as 
Gehazi  did  the  staff,  and  we  lay  it  upon  the  face  of  the 
child,  but  we  ourselves  do  not  agonise  for  its  soul.  We 
try  this  doctrine  and  that  truth,  this  anecdote  and  the 
other  illustration,  this  way  of  teaching  a  lesson  and 
that  manner  of  delivering  an  address;  but  so  long  as 
ever  the  truth  which  we  deliver  is  a  matter  apart  from 
ourselves,  and  unconnected  with  our  innermost  being, 
so  long  it  will  have  no  more  effect  upon  a  dead  soul 
than  Elisha's  staff  had  upon  the  dead  child.  Alas!  I 
fear  I  have  frequently  preached  the  gospel  in  this  place, 
I  have  been  sure  that  it  was  my  Master's  gospel,  the 
true  prophetic  staff,  and  yet  it  has  had  no  result,  be- 
cause I  fear  I  have  not  preached  it  with  the  vehemence 
and  earnestness  and  heartiness  which  ought  to  have 
gone  with  it!  And  will  you  not  make  the  same  con- 
fession, that  sometimes  you  have  taught  the  truth — 
it  was  the  truth,  you  know  it  was — the  very  truth  which 
you  found  in  the  Bible,  and  which  has  at  times  been 
precious  to  your  own  soul,  and  yet  no  good  result 
has  followed  from  It,  because  while  you  taught  the 
truth  you  did  not  feel  the  truth,  nor  feel  for  the  child 


HOW  TO  RAISE  THE  DEAD.     .  145 

to  whom  the  truth  was  addressed,  but  were  just  like 
Gehazi  placing  with  indifferent  hand  the  prophetic  staff 
upon  the  face  of  the  child?  It  was  no  wonder  that  you 
had  to  say  with  Gehazi,  "The  child  is  not  awaked,"  for 
the  true  awakening  power  found  no  appropriate  me- 
dium in  your  lifeless  teaching.  We  are  not  sure  that 
Gehazi  was  convinced  that  the  child  was  really  dead; 
he  spoke  as  if  it  were  only  asleep,  and  needed  waking. 
God  will  not  bless  those  teachers  who  do  not  grasp  in 
their  hearts  the  really  fallen  estate  of  their  children. 
If  you  think  the  child  is  not  really  depraved,  if  \ou 
indulge  foolish  notions  about  the  innocence  of  child- 
hood and  the  dignity  of  human  nature,  it  should  not 
surprise  you  if  you  remain  barren  and  unfruitful.  How 
can  God  bless  you  to  work  a  resurrection  when,  if  He 
did  work  it  by  you,  you  are  incapable  of  perceiving  its 
glorious  nature?  If  the  lad  had  awaked,  it  would  not 
have  surprised  Gehazi;  he  would  have  thought  that 
he  was  only  startled  from  an  unusually  sound  sleep. 
If  God  were  to  bless  to  the  conversion  of  souls  the 
testimony  of  those  who  do  not  believe  in  the  total 
depravity  of  man,  they  would  merely  say,  "The  gospel 
is  very  moralising,  and  exerts  a  most  beneficial  influ- 
ence." but  they  would  never  bless  and  magnify  the  re- 
generating grace  by  which  He  who  sitteth  on  the 
tlirone  maketh  all  things  new. 

Observe  carefully  what  Elisha  did  when  thus  foiled 
in  his  first  effort.  IVheti  we  fail  m  one  attempt,  we 
must  not  therefore  give  up  our  work.  If  you  have 
been  unsuccessful,  my  dear  brother  or  sister,  until 
now,  you  must  not  infer  that  you  are  not  called  to 
the  work,  any  more  than  Elisha  might  have  concluded 
that  the  child  could  not  be  restored.  The  lesson  of 
your  non-success  is  not — cease  the  work,  but — change 
the  method.    It  is  not  the  person  who  is  out  of  place, 


146  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

it  is  the  plan  which  is  unwise.  If  you  have  not  been 
able  to  accomplish  what  you  wished,  remember  the 
schoolboy's   song: 

"If  at  first  you  don't  succeed, 
Try,  try,  try  again." 

Do  not,  however,  try  in  the  same  way  unless  you  are 
sure  that  it  is  the  best  one.  If  your  first  method  has 
been  unsuccessful,  you  must  improve  upon  it.  Exam- 
ine wherein  you  have  failed,  and  then,  by  changing 
your  mode,  or  your  spirit,  the  Lord  may  prepare  you 
for  a  degree  of  usefulness  far  beyond  your  expectation. 
Elisha,  instead  of  being  dispirited  when  he  found  that 
the  child  was  not  awake,  girded  up  his  loins,  and  hast- 
ened wdth  greater  vigour  to  the  work  before  him. 

Notice  where  the  dead  child  was  placed:  "And 
when  Elisha  was  come  into  the  house,  behold,  the  child 
was  dead,  and  laid  upon  his  bed."  This  w'as  the  bed 
which  the  hospitality  of  the  Shunammite  had  prepared 
for  Elisha,  the  famous  bed  w^hich,  with  the  table,  the 
stool  and  the  candlestick,  will  never  be  forgotten  in 
the  Church  of  God.  That  famous  bed  had  to  be  used 
for  a  purpose  which  the  good  woman  little  thought 
of  when,  out  of  love  to  the  prophet's  God,  she  pre- 
pared it  for  the  prophet's  rest.  I  like  to  think  of  the 
dead  child  lying  on  that  bed,  because  it  symbolises  the 
place  where  our  unconverted  children  must  lie  if  we 
would  have  them  saved.  If  we  are  to  be  a  blessing 
to  them,  they  must  lie  in  our  hearts — they  must  be  our 
daily  and  nightly  charge.  We  must  take  the  cases  of 
our  children  to  our  silent  couch  with  us:  we  must  think 
of  them  in  the  watches  of  the  night,  and  w^ien  w^e  can- 
not sleep  because  of  care,  they  must  share  in  those 
midnight  anxieties.  Our  beds  must  witness  to  our 
cries:    "Oh,  that  Ishmael  might  live  before  Thee!   Oh, 


HOW  TO  RAISE  THE  DEAD.  147 

that  the  dear  boys  and  girls  in  my  class  might  become 
the  children  of  the  living  God!"  Elijah  and  Elisha 
both  teach  us  that  we  must  not  place  the  child  far  from 
us,  out  of  doors,  or  down  below  us  in  a  vault  of  cold 
forgetfulncss,  but,  if  we  would  have  him  raised  to  life, 
we  must  place  him  in  the  warmest  sympathies  of  our 
hearts. 

In  reading  on  we  find,  "he  went  in,  therefore,  and 
shut  the  door  upon  them  twain,  and  prayed  unto  the 
Lord."  Now  the  prophet  is  at  his  work  in  right  earn- 
est, and  we  have  a  noble  opportunity  of  learning  from 
him  the  secret  of  raising  children  from  the  dead.  If 
you  turn  to  the  narrative  of  Elijah,  you  will  find  that 
Elisha  adopted  the  orthodox  method  of  proceeding, 
the  method  of  his  master  Elijah.  You  will  read  there, 
"And  he  said  unto  her,  Give  me  thy  son.  And  he  took 
him  out  of  her  bosom,  and  carried  him  up  into  a  loft, 
where  he  abode,  and  laid  him  upon  his  own  bed.  And 
he  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  O  Lord,  my  God, 
hast  Thou  also  brought  evil  upon  the  woman  with 
whom  I  sojourn,  by  slaying  her  son?  And  he  stretched 
himself  upon  the  child  three  times,  and  cried  unto  the 
Lord,  and  said,  O  Lord,  my,  God,  I  pray  Thee,  let  this 
child's  soul  come  into  him  again.  And  the  Lord  heard 
the  voice  of  Elijah,  and  the  soul  of  the  child  came  into 
him  again,  and  he  revived."  The  great  secret  lies,  in 
a  large  measure,  in  powerful  supplication.  "He  shut 
the  door  upon  them  twain,  and  prayed  unto  the  Lord." 
The  old  proverb  is,  "Every  true  pulpit  is  set  up  in 
heaven,"  by  which  is  meant  that  the  true  preacher 
is  much  with  God.  If  we  do  not  pray  to  God  for  a 
blessing,  if  the  foundation  of  the  pulpit  be  not  laid 
in  private  prayer,  our  open  ministry  will  not  be  a 
success.  So  it  is  with  you;  every  real  teacher's  power 
must  come  from  on  high.     If  you  never  enter  your 


148  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

closet,  and  shut  to  the  door,  if  you  never  plead  at  the 
mercy-seat  for  your  child,  how  can  you  expect  that 
God  will  honour  you  in  its  conversion?  It  is  a  very 
excellent  method,  I  think,  actually  to  take  the  chil- 
dren one  by  one  into  your  room  alone,  and  pray  with 
them.  You  will  see  your  children  converted  when  God 
gives  you  to  individualise  their  cases,  to  agonise  for 
them,  and  to  take  them  one  by  one,  and  with  the  door 
closed,  to  pray  both  with  them  and  for  them.  There 
is  much  more  influence  in  prayer  privately  offered  with 
one  than  in  p'Vayer  publicly  uttered  in  the  class — not 
more  influence  with  God,  of  course,  but  more  influ- 
ence wdth  the  child.  Such  prayer  will  often  be  made  its 
own  answer;  for  God  may,  while  you  are  pouring  out 
your  soul,  make  your  prayer  to  be  a  hammer  to  break 
the  heart  which  mere  addresses  had  never  touched. 
Pray  with  your  children  separatel}',  and  it  will  surely 
be  the  means  of  a  great  blessing.  If  this  cannot  be 
done,  at  any  rate  there  must  be  prayer,  much  prayer, 
constant  prayer,  vehement  prayer,  the  kind  of  prayer 
which  will  not  take  a  denial,  like  Luther's  prayer,  which 
he  called  the  bombarding  of  heaven;  that  is  to  say, 
the  planting  a  cannon  at  heaven's  gates  to  blow  them 
open,  for  after  this  fashion  fervent  men  prevail  in 
prayer;  they  will  not  come  from  the  mercy-seat  until 
they  can  cry  with  Luther,  "T/V/,"  ^'I  have  conquered, 
I  have  gained  the  blessing  for  which  I  strove."  *'The 
kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth  violence,  and  the  violent 
take  it  by  force."  May  we  offer  such  violent,  God- 
constraining,  heaven-compelling  prayers,  and  the  Lord 
will  not  permit  us  to  seek  His  face  in  vain! 

After  praying,  Elisha  adopted  the  means.  Prayer 
and  means  must  go  together.  Means  without  prayer 
— presumption!  Prayer  without  means — hypocrisy! 
There  lav  the  child,  and  there  stood  the  venerable 


HOW  TO  RAISE  THE  DEAD.  149 

man  of  God !  Watch  his  singular  proceeding,  he  stoops 
over  the  corpse,  and  puts  his  mouth  upon  the  child's 
mouth.  The  cold,  dead  mouth  of  the  child  was  touched 
by  the  warm,  living  lips  of  the  prophet,  and  a  vital 
stream  of  fresh,  hot  breath  was  sent  down  into  the  chill, 
stone-like  passages  of  the  dead  mouth,  and  throat,  and 
lungs.  Next,  the  holy  man,  with  loving  ardour  of 
hopefulness,  placed  his  eyes  upon  the  child's  eyes,  and 
his  hands  upon  the  child's  hands;  the  warm  hands  of 
the  old  man  covered  the  cold  palms  of  the  departed 
child.  Then  he  stretched  himself  upon  the  child,  and 
covered  him  with  his  whole  body,  as  though  he  would 
transfer  his  own  life  into  the  lifeless  frame,  and  would 
either  die  wdth  him,  or  would  make  him  live.  We  have 
heard  of  the  chamois  hunter  acting  as  guide  to  a  fearful 
traveller,  who,  when  they  came  to  a  very  dangerous 
part  of  the  road,  strapped  the  traveller  firmly  to  himself 
and  said,  "Both  of  us  or  neither,"  that  is  to  say,  ''Both  of 
us  shall  live,  or  neither  of  us;  we  are  one."  So  did 
the  prophet  effect  a  mysterious  union  between  himself 
and  the  lad,  and  in  his  own  mind  it  was  resolved  that 
he  would  either  be  chilled  with  the  child's  death,  or 
warm  the  child  with  his  life.  What  does  this  teach  us? 
The  lessons  are  many  and  obvious.  We  see  here, 
as  in  a  picture,  that  if  we  would  bring  spiritual  life  to 
a  child,  we  must  most  vividly  realise  that  child's  state. 
It  is  dead,  dead.  God  will  have  you  feel  that  the  child 
is  as  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  as  you  once  were. 
God  would  have  you,  dear  teacher,  come  into  contact 
with  that  death  by  painful,  crushing,  humbling  sym- 
pathy. I  told  you  that,  in  soul-winning,  we  should 
observe  how  our  Master  worked;  now  how  did  He 
work?  When  He  would  raise  us  from  death,  what 
did  it  behoove  Him  to  do?  He  must  needs  die  Him- 
self: there  was  no  other  way.    So  is  it  with  you.    If 


150  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

you  would  raise  that  dead  child,  you  must  feel  the  chill 
and  horror  of  that  child's  death  yourself.  A  dying 
man  is  needed  to  raise  dying  men.  I  cannot  believe 
that  you  will  ever  pluck  a  brand  from  the  burning  with- 
out putting  your  hand  near  enough  to  feel  the  heat  of 
the  fire.  You  must  have,  more  or  less,  a  distinct  sense 
of  the  dreadful  wrath  of  God  and  of  the  terrors  of  the 
judgment  to  come,  or  you  will  lack  energy  in  your 
work,  and  so  lack  one  of  the  essentials  of  success. 
I  do  not  think  the  preacher  ever  speaks  well  upon  such 
topics  until  he  feels  them  pressing  upon  him  as  a  per- 
sonal burden  from  the  Lord.  ''I  did  preach  in  chains," 
said  John  Bunyan,  "to  men  in  chains."  Depend  upon 
it,  when  the  death  that  is  in  your  children  alarms,  de- 
presses and  overwhelms  you,  then  it  is  that  God  is 
about  to  bless  you. 

Thus  realising  the  child's  state,  and  putting  your 
mouth  upon  the  child's  mouth,  and  your  hands  upon 
its  hands,  you  must  next  strive  to  adapt  yourself  as  far 
as  possible  to  the  nature,  and  habits,  and  temperament 
of  the  child.  Your  mouth  must  find  out  the  child's 
words,  so  that  the  child  may  know  what  you  mean; 
you  must  see  things  with  a  child's  eyes;  your  heart 
must  feel  a  child's  feelings,  so  as  to  be  his  companion 
and  friend;  you  must  be  a'student  of  juvenile  sin;  you 
must  be  a  sympathiser  in  juvenile  trials;  you  must 
so  far  as  possible,  enter  into  childhood's  joys  and  griefs. 
You  must  not  fret  at  the  difficulty  of  this  matter,  or  feel 
it  to  be  humiliating;  for  if  you  count  anything  to  be 
a  hardship,  or  a  condescension,  you  have  no  business 
in  the  Sunday  school.  If  anything  difficult  be  required 
of  you,  you  must  do  it,  and  not  think  it  difficult.  God 
will  not  raise  a  dead  child  by  you,  if  you  are  not  willing 
to  become  all  things  to  that  child,  if  by  any  possibility 
you  may  win  its  soul. 


liOW  TO  RAISE  THE  DEAD.  151 

The  prophet,  it  is  written,  "stretched  himself  upon 
the  child."  One  would  have  thought  it  should  be  writ- 
ten, **he  contracted  himself!"  He  was  a  full-grown 
man,  and  the  other  a  mere  lad.  Should  it  not  be  ''he 
contracted  himself?"  No,  "he  stretched  himself;"  and, 
mark  you,  no  stretching  is  harder  than  for  a  man  to 
stretch  himself  to  a  child.  He  is  no  fool  who  can  talk 
to  children ;  a  simpleton  is  much  mistaken  if  he  thinks 
that  his  folly  can  interest  boys  and  girls.  It  needs  our 
best  wits,  our  most  industrious  studies,  our  most  earn- 
est thoughts,  our  ripest  powers,  to  teach  our  little  ones. 
You  will  not  quicken  the  child  until  you  have  stretched 
yourself;  and,  though  it  seems  a  strange  thing,  yet 
it  is  so.  The  wisest  man  will  need  to  exercise  all  his 
abilities  if  he  would  become  a  successful  teacher  of  the 
young. 

We  see,  then,  in  Elisha,  a  sense  of  the  child's  death 
and  an  adaptation  of  himself  to  his  work;  but,  above 
all,  we  see  sympatJiy.  While  Elisha  himself  felt  the 
chill  of  the  corpse,  his  personal  warmth  was  entering 
into  the  dead  body.  This  of  itself  did  not  raise  the 
child ;  but  God  worked  through  it — ^the  old  man's  heat 
of  body  passed  into  the  child,  and  became  the  medium 
of  quickening.  Let  every  teacher  weigh  these  words 
of  Paul,  ''But  we  were  gentle  among  you,  even  as  a 
nurse  cherisheth  her  children;  so,  being  affectionately 
desirous  of  you,  we  were  willing  to  have  imparted  unto 
you,  not  the  gospel  of  God  only,  but  also  our  own  souls, 
because  ye  were  dear  unto  us."  The  genuine  soul-win- 
ner knows  what  this  means.  For  my  own  part,  when 
the  Lord  helps  me  to  preach,  after  I  have  delivered 
all  my  matter,  and  have  fired  of¥  my  shot  so  fast  that 
my  gun  has  grown  hot,  I  have  often  rammed  my  soul 
into  the  gun,  and  fired  my  heart  at  the  congregation, 
and  this  discharge  has,  under  God,  won  the  victory. 


152  THE  GOUL- WINNER. 

God  will  bless  by  His  Spirit  our  hearty  sympathy  with 
His  own  truth,  and  make  it  do  that  which  the  truth 
alone,  coldly  spoken,  would  not  accomplish.  Here, 
then,  is  the  secret.  You  must,  dear  teacher,  impart 
to  the  young  your  own  soul;  you  must  feel  as  if  the 
ruin  of  that  child  would  be  your  own  ruin.  You 
must  feel  that,  if  the  child  remains  under  the  wrath 
of  God,  it  is  to  you  as  true  a  grief  as  if  you  were 
under  that  wrath  yourself.  You  must  confess  the  child's 
sins  before  God  as  if  they  were  your  own,  and  stand 
as  a  priest  before  the  Lord  pleading  on  its  behalf. 
The  child  was  covered  by  Elisha's  body,  and  you  must 
cover  your  class  with  your  comj>assion,  with  the  agon- 
ising stretching  forth  of  yourself  before  the  Lord  on 
its  behaif.  Behold  in  this  miracle  the  modus  operandi 
of  raising  the  dead;  the  Holy  Spirit  remains  mysteri- 
ous in  His  operations,  but  the  way  of  the  outward 
means  is  here  clearly  revealed. 

The  result  of  the  prophet's  work  soon  appeared: 
"the  flesh  of  the  child  waxed  warm."  How  pleased 
Elisha  must  have  been;  but  I  do  not  find  that  his 
pleasure  and  satisfaction  caused  him  to  relax  his  ex- 
ertions. Never  be  satisfied,  dear  friends,  with  finding 
your  children  in  a  barely  hopeful  state.  Did  a  girl 
come  to  you  and  cry,  "Teacher,  pray  for  me?"  Be  glad, 
for  this  is  a  fair  token;  but  look  for  more.  Did  you 
observe  tears  in  a  boy's  eyes  when  you  were  speaking 
of  the  love  of  Christ?  Be  thankful  for  it  that  the  flesh 
is  waxing  warm,  but  do  not  stop  there.  Can  you  relax 
your  exertions  now?  Bethink  you,  you  have  not  yet 
gained  your  end!  It  is  life  you  want,  not  warmth  alone. 
What  you  want,  dear  teacher,  in  your  beloved  charge, 
is  not  mere  conviction,  but  conversion ;  you  desire  not 
only  impression,  but  regeneration — life,  life  from  God, 


HOW  TO  RAISE  THE  DEAD.  153 

the  life  of  Jesus.  This  your  scholars  need,  and  nothing 
less  imist  content  you. 

Again  I  must  bid  you  watch  Elisha.  There  was  now 
a  little  pause.  "Then  he  returned,  and  walked  in  the 
house  to  and  fro."  Notice  the  restlessness  of  the  man 
of  God;  he  cannot  be  easy.  The  child  waxes  warm 
(blessed  be  God  for  that,  but  he  does  not  live  yet); 
so,  instead  of  sitting  down  in  his  chair  by  the  table, 
the  prophet  walks  to  and  fro  with  restless  foot,  dis- 
quieted, groaning,  panting,  longing,  and  ill  at  ease. 
He  could  not  bear  to  look  upon  the  disconsolate 
mother,  or  to  hear  her  ask,  "Is  the  child  restored?" 
but  he  continued  pacing  the  house  as  if  his  body  could 
not  rest  because  his  soul  was  not  satisfied.  Imitate 
this  consecrated  restlessness.  When  you  see  a  boy 
getting  somewhat  afifected,  do  not  sit  down  and  say, 
"The  child  is  very  hopeful,  thank  God;  I  am  perfectly 
satisfied."  You  will  never  win  the  priceless  gem  of  a 
saved  soul  in  that  way;  you  must  feel  sad,  restless, 
troubled,  if  you  ever  become  a  parent  in  the  Church. 
Paul's  expression  is  not  to  be  explained  in  words,  but 
you  must  know  its  meaning  in  your  hearts;  "I  travail 
in  birth  again  until  Christ  be  formed  in  you."  Oh, 
may  the  Holy  Ghost  give  you  such  inward  travail,  such 
unrest,  disquietude,  and  sacred  uneasiness,  until  you  see 
your  hopeful  scholars  savingly  converted! 

After  a  short  period  of  walking  to  and  fro,  the  prophet 
again  "went  up,  and  stretched  himself  upon  the  child." 
What  it  is  well  to  do  once,  it  is  proper  to  do  a  second 
time.  What  is  good  twice,  is  good  seven  times.  There 
must  be  perseverance  and  patience.  You  were  very 
earnest  last  Sabbath;  do  not  be  slothful  next  Sab- 
bath. How  easy  it  is  to  pull  down,  on  any  one  day, 
what  we  have  built  up  the  day  before !  If  by  one  Sab- 
bath's work  God  enables  me  to  convince  a  child  that 


154  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

I  was  in  earnest,  let  me  not  convince  the  child  next 
Sunday  that  I  am  not  in  earnest.  If  my  past  warmth 
has  made  the  child's  flesh  wax  warm,  God  forbid  that 
my  future  chilliness  should  make  the  child's  heart  cold 
again!  As  surely  as  warmth  went  from  Elisha  to  the 
child,  so  may  cold  go  from  you  to  your  class  unless 
you  are  in  an  earnest  state  of  mind. 

Elisha  stretched  himself  on  the  bed  again,  with  many 
a  prayer,  and  many  a  sigh,  and  much  believing,  and 
at  last  his  desire  was  granted  him:  "The  child  sneezed 
seven  times,  and  the  child  opened  his  eyes."  Any  form 
of  action  would  indicate  life,  and  content  the  prophet. 
The  child  "sneezed,"  some  say  because  he  died  with  a 
'disease  of  the  head,  for  he  said  to  his  father,  "My  head ! 
my  head!"  and  the  sneeze  cleared  the  passages  of  life 
which  had  been  blocked  up.  This  we  do  not  know. 
The  fresh  air  entering  afresh  into  the  lungs  might  well 
compel  a  sneeze.  The  sound  was  nothing  very  articu- 
late or  musical,  but  it  betokened  life.  This  is  all  we 
should  expect  from  young  children  when  God  gives 
them  spiritual  life.  Some  church  members  expect  a 
great  deal  more,  but  for  my  part  I  am  satisfied  if  the 
children  sneeze — if  they  give  any  true  sign  of  grace, 
however  feeble  or  indistinct.  If  the  dear  child  does 
but  feel  its  lost  estate,  and  rest  upon  the  finished  work 
of  Jesus,  though  we  only  find  out  the  fact  by  a  very  in- 
distinct statement,  not  such  as  we  should  accept  from 
a  doctor  of  divinity,  or  expect  from  a  grown-up  per- 
son, should  we  not  thank  God,  and  receive  the  child, 
and  nurse  it  for  the  Lord? 

Perhaps,  if  Gehazi  had  been  there,  he  would  not  have 
thought  much  of  this  sneezing,  because  he  had  never 
stretched  himself  upon  the  child,  but  Elisha  was  con- 
tent with  it.  Even  so,  if  you  and  I  have  really  agon- 
ised in  prayer  for  souls,  we  shall  be  very  quick  of  eye 


HOW  TO  RAISE  THE  DEAD.  155 

to  catch  the  first  sign  of  grace,  and  shall  be  thankful  to 
God  if  the  token  be  but  a  sneeze. 

Then  the  child  opened  his  eyes,  and  we  will  venture 
to  say  Elisha  thought  he  had  never  seen  such  lovely 
eyes  before.  I  know  not  what  kind  of  eyes  they  were, 
the  hazel  or  the  blue,  but  this  I  know,  that  any  eye 
which  God  helps  you  to  open  will  be  a  beautiful  eye 
to  you.  I  heard  a  teacher  talking  the  other  day  about 
a  "fine  lad"  who  had  been  saved  in  his  class,  and  an- 
other spoke  of  a  "dear  girl"  in  her  class  who  loved  the 
Lord.  No  doubt  of  it;  it  would  be  a  wonder  if  they 
were  not  "fine"  and  "dear"  in  the  eyes  of  you  who  have 
brought  them  to  Jesus,  for  to  Jesus  Christ  they  are 
finer  and  dearer  still.  Beloved  friends,  may  you  often 
gaze  into  opened  eyes  which,  but  for  divine  grace  own- 
ing your  teaching,  w^ould  have  been  dark  with  the  film 
of  spiritual  death!    Then  will  you  be  favoured  indeed. 

One  word  of  caution.  In  this  meeting  is  there  a 
Gehazi?  If  there  be  among  this  host  of  Sunday-school 
teachers  one  who  can  do  no  more  than  carry  the  staff, 
I  pity  him.  Ah!  my  friend,  may  God  in  His  mercy 
give  you  life,  for  how  else  can  you  expect  to  be  the 
means  of  quickening  others?  If  Elisha  had  been  a 
corpse  himself,  it  would  have  been  a  hopeless  task  to 
expect  life  to  be  communicated  thr(nigh  placing  one 
corpse  upon  another.  It  is  vain  for  that  little  class  of 
dead  souls  to  gather  round  another  dead  soul  such  as 
you  are.  A  dead  mother,  frost-bitten  and  cold,  cannot 
cherish  her  little  one.  What  warmth,  what  comfort, 
can  come  to  those  who  shiver  before  an  empty  grate? 
And  such  are  you.  May  you  have  a  work  of  grace  in 
your  soul  first,  and  then  may  the  blessed  and  Eternal 
Spirit,  who  alone  can  quicken  souls,  make  you  to  be 
the  means  of  quickening  many  to  the  glory  of  His 
grace! 


156  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

Accept,  dear  friends,  my  fraternal  salutations,  and 
believe  that  my  fervent  prayers  are  with  you  that  you 
may  be  blessed,  and  be  made  a  blessing. 


HOW  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST. 


AN  ADDRESS  TO  OPEN-AIR  PREACHERS. 


HOW  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST. 


It  is  a  great  privilege  to  have  to  speak  to  so  noble 
a  band  of  preachers;  I  wish  that  I  were  more  fit  for 
the  task.  Silver  of  eloquent  speech  and  gold  of  deep 
thought  have  I  none;  but  such  as  I  have,  give  I  unto 
you. 

Concerning  the  winning  of  souls.  JVIta/  is  it  to  win 
a  soul/  I  hope  you  believe  in  the  old-fashioned  way 
of  saving  souls.  Everything  appears  to  be  shaken 
nowadays,  and  shifted  from  the  old  foundations.  It 
seems  that  we  are  to  evolve  out  of  men  the  good  that 
is  already  in  them:  much  good  may  you  get  if  you 
attempt  the  process!  T  am  afraid  that  in  the  process 
of  evolution  you  will  develop  devils.  1  do  not  know 
much  else  that  will  come  out  of  liuman  nature,  for  man- 
hood is  as  full  of  sin  as  an  tgg  is  full  of  meat;  and  the 
evolution  of  sin  must  be  everlasting  mischief.  We  all 
believe  that  we  must  go  to  soul-winning,  desiring  in 
God's  name  to  see  all  things  made  new.  This  old 
creature  is  dead  and  corrupt,  and  must  be  buried ;  and 
the  sooner  the  better.  Jesus  has  come  that  there  may 
be  a  passing  away  of  the  old  things,  and  a  making  of 
all  things  new.  In  the  process  of  our  work,  we  en- 
deavor to  bless  men  by  trying  to  make  them  temperate ; 
may  God  bless  all  work  of  that  sort!  But  we  should 
think  ourselves  to  have  failed  if  we  had  produced  a 
world  of  total  abstainers,  and  had  left  them  all  unbe- 
lievers. We  drive  at  something  more  than  temper- 
ance; for  we  believe  that  men  must  be  born  again.     It 


160  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

is  good  that  even  a  corpse  should  be  clean,  and  there- 
fore that  the  unregenerate  should  be  moral.  It  would 
be  a  great  blessing  if  they  were  cleansed  of  the  vices 
which  make  this  city  to  reek  in  the  nostrils  of  God  and 
good  men.  But  that  is  not  so  much  our  work  as  this: 
that  the  dead  in  sin  should  live,  that  spiritual  life  should 
quicken  them,  and  that  Christ  should  reign  where  the 
prince  of  the  power  of  the  air  now  hath  sway.  You 
preach,  brethren,  with  this  object,  that  men  may  quit 
their  sins,  and  fly  to  Christ  for  pardon,  that  by  His 
blessed  Spirit  they  may  be  renovated,  and  become  as 
much  in  love  with  everything  that  is  holy  as  they  are 
now  in  love  with  everything  that  is  sinful.  You  aim 
at  a  radical  cure;  the  axe  is  laid  at  the  root  of  the  trees; 
the  amendment  of  the  old  nature  would  not  content 
you,  but  you  seek  for  the  imparting,  by  a  divine  power, 
of  a  new  nature,  that  those  who  gather  round  you  in  the 
streets  may  live  unto  God. 

Our  object  is  to  turn  the  world  upside  down;  or,  in 
other  words,  that  where  sin  abounded  grace  may  much 
more  abound.  We  are  aiming  at  a  miracle:  it  is  well 
to  settle  that  at  the  commencement.  Some  brethren 
think  that  they  ought  to  lower  their  note  to  the  spiritual 
ability  of  the  hearer ;  but  this  is  a  mistake.  According 
to  these  brethren,  you  ought  not  to  exhort  a  man  to 
repent  and  believe  unless  you  believe  that  he  can,  of 
himself,  repent  and  believe.  My  reply  is  a  confession: 
I  command  men  in  the  name  of  Jesus  to  repent  and 
believe  the  gospel,  though  I  know  they  can  do  nothing 
of  the  kind  apart  from  the  grace  of  God ;  for  I  am  not 
sent  to  work  according  to  what  my  private  reason 
might  suggest,  but  according  to  the  orders  of  my  Lord 
and  Master.  Ours  is  the  miraculous  method  which 
comes  of  the  endowment  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  who  bids 
His  ministers  perform  wonders  in  the  name  of  the  holy 


HOW  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST.  KU 

child  Jesus.  We  are  sent  to  say  to  blind  eyes,  "See," 
to  deaf  ears,  "Hear,"  to  dead  hearts,  ''Live,"  and  even 
to  Lazarus  rotting  in  that  grave,  wherein,  by  this  time, 
he  stinketh, — "Lazarus,  come  forth."  Dare  we  do 
this?  We  shall  be  wise  to  begin  with  the  conviction 
that  we  are  utterly  powerless  for  this  unless  our  Master 
has  sent  us,  and  is  with  us.  But  if  He  that  sent  us  is 
with  us,  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth. 
O  preacher,  if  thou  art  about  to  stand  up  to  see  what 
thou  canst  do,  it  will  be  thy  wisdom  to  sit  down 
speedily;  but  if  thou  standest  up  to  prove  what  thine 
almighty  Lord  and  Master  can  do  through  thee,  then 
infinite  possibiHties  lie  about  thee!  There  is  no  bound 
to  what  God  can  accomplish  if  He  works  by  thy  heart 
and  voice.  The  other  Sabbath  morning,  before  I  en- 
tered the  pulpit,  when  my  dear  brethren,  the  deacons 
and  elders  of  this  church,  gathered  about  me  for 
prayer,  as  they  are  wont  to  do,  one  of  them  said,  "Lord, 
take  him  as  a  man  takes  a  tool  in  his  hand  when  he 
gets  a  firm  hold  of  it,  and  then  uses  it  to  work  his  own 
will  with  it."  That  is  what  all  workers  need ;  that  God 
may  be  the  worker  by  them.  You  are  to  be  instru- 
ments in  the  hands  of  God;  yourselves,  of  course, 
actively  putting  forth  all  your  faculties  and  forces  which 
the  Lord  has  lent  to  you;  but  still  never  depending 
upon  your  personal  power,  but  resting  alone  upon  that 
sacred,  mysterious,  divine  energy  which  worketh  in 
us,  and  by  us,  and  with  us,  upon  the  hearts  and  minds 
of  men. 

Brethren,  we  have  been  greatly  disappointed,  have 
we  not,  with  some  of  our  converts?  We  shall  always 
be  disappointed  with  them  so  far  as  they  are  our  con- 
verts. We  shall  greatly  rejoice  over  them  when  they 
prove  to  be  the  Lord's  work.  When  the  power  of 
grace  works  in  them,  ("Glory!  ")  then  it  will  be,  as  my 


162  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

brother  says,  "Glory!"  and  nothing  else  but  glory;  for 
grace  brings  glory,  but  mere  oratory  will  only  create 
sham  and  shame  in  the  long  run.  When  we  are  preach- 
ing, and  we  think  of  a  very  pretty,  flowery  passage,  a 
very  neat,  poetical  paragraph,  I  wish  we  could  be 
restrained  by  that  fear  which  acted  upon  Paul  when  he 
said  that  he  would  not  use  the  wisdom  of  words,  "lest 
the  cross  of  Christ  should  be  made  of  none  effect."  It 
is  the  duty  of  the  gospel  preacher,  indoors  or  outdoors, 
to  say,  "I  can  say  that  very  prettily,  but  then  they 
might  notice  how  I  said  it;  I  will,  therefore,  so  say  it 
that  they  will  only  observe  the  intrinsic  value  of  the 
truth  which  I  would  teach  them."  It  is  not  our  way 
of  putting  the  gospel,  nor  our  method  of  illustrating 
it,  which  wins  souls,  but  the  gospel  itself  does  the  work 
in  the  hands  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  Him  we  must 
look  for  the  thorough  conversion  of  men.  A  miracle 
is  to  be  wrought  by  which  our  hearers  shall  become  the 
products  of  that  mighty  power  which  God  wrought  in 
Christ  when  He  raised  Him  from  the  dead,  and  set  Him 
at  His  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  place  far  above 
all  principality  and  power;  and  for  this  we  must  look 
out  of  ourselves  to  the  living  God.  Must  we  not?  We 
go  in,  then,  for  thorough  downright  conversion;  and 
therefore  we  fall  back  upon  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  If  it  be  a  miracle,  God  must  work  it,  that  is 
clear;  it  is  not  to  be  accomplished  by  our  reasoning, 
or  persuasion,  or  threatening,  it  can  only  come  from 
the  Lord. 

In  what  way,  since  the  winning  of  souls  lies  here,  can 
we  hopefully  expect  to  be  eiidowed  with  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and  to  go  forth  in  His  power?  I  reply,  that  a 
great  deal  depends  upon  the  condition  of  the  man 
himself.  I  am  persuaded  we  have  never  laid  enough 
stress  on  the  work  of  God  within  our  own  selves  in  its 


HOW  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST  163 

relation  to  our  service  of  God.  A  consecrated  man 
may  be  charged  with  the  divine  energy  to  the  full,  so 
that  everybody  round  about  him  must  perceive  it. 
They  cannot  tell  what  it  is,  nor  whence  it  comes,  nor, 
perhaps,  whither  it  goes ;  but  there  is  something  about 
that  man  which  is  far  beyond  the  common  order  of 
things.  At  another  time  that  same  person  may  be 
feeble  and  dull,  and  be  conscious  to  himself  that  he  is 
so.  See!  he  shakes  himself  as  at  other  times,  but  he 
can  do  no  mighty  deed.  It  is  clear  that  Samson  him- 
self must  be  in  a  right  condition,  or  he  can  win  no 
victories.  If  the  champion's  locks  be  shorn,  the  Philis- 
tines will  laugh  at  him;  if  the  Lord  be  gone  from  a 
man,  he  has  no  power  left  for  useful  service.  Dear 
brethren,  look  carefully  to  your  own  condition  before 
God.  Take  care  of  the  home  farm;  look  well  to  your 
own  flocks  and  herds.  Unless  your  walk  be  close  with 
God,  unless  you  dw^ll  in  that  clear  light  which  sur- 
rounds the  throne  of  God,  and  which  is  only  known 
to  those  who  are  in  fellowship  with  the  Eternal,  you 
wall  go  forth  from  your  chamber,  and  hasten  to  your 
work,  but  nothing  will  come  of  it.  The  vessel,  it  is 
true,  is  but  an  earthen  one;  yet  it  has  its  place  in  the 
divine  arrangement,  but  it  will  not  be  filled  wnth  the 
divine  treasure  unless  it  is  a  clean  vessel,  and  unless  in 
other  respects  it  is  a  vessel  fit  for  the  Master's  use. 
Let  me  show  you  some  ways  in  which  much  must 
depend  in  soul-winning  upon  the  man  himself. 

We  win  some  sou/s  to  Christ  by  acting  as  witnesses. 
We  stand  up  and  testify  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
concerning  certain  truths.  Now,  I  have  never  had 
the  great  privilege  of  being  bamboozled  by  a  barrister. 
I  have  sometimes  wondered  what  I  should  do  if  I  were 
put  into  the  witness-box  to  be  examined  and  cross- 
examined.     I   think   I   should  simply  stand  up,  and 


164  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

tell  the  truth  as  far  as  I  knew  it,  and  should  not  make 
an  attempt  to  display  my  wit,  or  my  language,  or  my 
judgment.  If  I  simply  gave  straightforward  answers 
to  his  questions,  I  should  beat  any  lawyer  under 
heaven.  But  the  difficulty  is,  that  so  often  when  a 
witness  is  put  into  the  box,  he  is  more  conscious  of 
himself  than  of  what  he  has  to  say;  therefore,  he  is 
soon  worried,  teased,  and  bored,  and,  by  losing  'his 
temper,  he  fails  to  be  a  good  witness  for  the  cause. 
Now,  you  men  in  the  open-air  are  often  bamboozled; 
the  devil's  barristers  are  sure  to  come  to  you,  he  has 
a  great  number  of  them  constantly  retained  in  his 
service.  The  one  thing  you  have  to  do  is  to  bear 
witness  to  the  truth.  If  you  enquire  in  your  own  mind, 
"How  shall  I  answer  this  man  cleverly,  so  as  to  get 
a  victory  over  him?"  you  will  not  be  wise.  A  witty 
answer  is  often  a  very  proper  thing;  at  the  same 
time,  a  gracious  answer  is  better.  Try  to  say  to  your- 
self: "It  does  not,  after  all,  matter  whether  that  man 
proves  me  to  be  a  fool  or  not,  for  I  know  that  already. 
I  am  content  to  be  thought  a  fool  for  Christ's  sake,  and 
not  to  care  about  my  reputation.  I  have  to  bear 
witness  to  what  I  know,  and  by  the  help  of  God  I  will 
do  so  right  boldly.  If  the  interrupter  questions  me 
about  other  things,  I  shall  tell  him  that  I  do  not  come 
to  bear  witness  about  other  matters,  but  this  one  thing 
I  do.     To  one  point  I  will  speak,  and  to  no  other." 

Brethren,  the  witnessing  man,  then,  must  himself 
be  saved,  and  he  should  be  sure  of  it.  I  do  not  know 
whether  you  doubt  your  own  salvation.  Perhaps  I 
should  recommend  you  to  preach  even  when  that  is 
the  case;  since,  if  you  are  not  saved  yourself,  you  yet 
wish  others  to  be.  You  do  not  doubt  that  you  once 
enjoyed  full  assurance;  and  now,  if  you  have  sorrow- 
fully to  confess,  "Alas!     I  do  not  feel  the  full  power  of 


HOW  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST.  165 

the  gospel  on  my  own  heart,"  you  can  truly  add,  "Yet 
I  know  that  it  is  true,  for  I  have  seen  it  save  others, 
and  I  know  that  no  other  power  can  save  wt'."  Per- 
haps even  that  faltering  testimony,  so  truly  honest, 
might  bring  a  tear  into  your  opponent's  eye,  and  make 
him  feel  sympathy  for  you.  "I  preached,"  said  John 
Bunyan,  "sometimes  without  hope,  like  a  man  in  chains 
to  men  in  chains,  and  when  I  heard  my  own  fetters 
rattle,  yet  I  told  others  that  there  was  deliverance  for 
them,  and  I  bade  them  look  to  the  great  Deliverer." 
I  w^ould  not  have  stopped  Mr.  Bunyan  in  preaching  so. 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  a  great  thing  to  be  able  to  declare 
from  your  own  personal  experience  that  the  Lord  hath 
broken  the  gates  of  brass,  and  cut  the  bars  of  iron 
in  sunder.  Those  who  hear  our  witness  say,  "Are  you 
sure  of  it?"  Sure  of  it?  I  am  as  sure  of  it  as  I  am  sure 
that  I  am  a  living  man.  They  call  this  dogmatism. 
Never  mind  about  that.  A  man  ought  to  know  what 
he  is  preaching  about,  or  else  let  him  sit  down.  If  I  had 
any  doubt  about  the  matters  I  preach  from  this  pulpit, 
I  should  be  ashamed  to  remain  the  pastor  of  this 
church ;  but  I  preach  wdiat  I  do  know,  and  testify  what 
I  have  seen.  If  I  am  mistaken  I  am  heartily  and 
intensely  mistaken;  and  I  risk  my  soul  and  all  its  eter- 
nal interests  upon  the  truth  of  what  I  preach.  If  the 
gospel  of  what  I  preach  does  not  save  me,  I  shall  never 
be  saved,  for  what  I  proclaim  to  others  is  my  own  per- 
sonal ground  of  trust.  I  have  no  private  lifeboat;  the 
ark  to  which  I  invite  others  holds  myself  and  all  that 
I  have. 

A  good  witness  ought  himself  to  know  all  that  he  is 
going  to  say;  he  should  feel  himself  at  home  in  his 
subject.       He  is  brought  up  as  a  witness,  say,  in  ^r 
a  certain  case  of  robbery;  he  knows  wdiat  he  saw,  and 
has  to  make  a  declaration  of  that  only.      They  begin 


166  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

to  question  him  about  a  picture  in  the  house,  or  the 
colour  of  a  dress  which  was  hanging  in  the  wardrobe. 
He  answers,  "You  are  going  beyond  my  record;  I 
can  only  witness  to  that  which  I  saw."  What  we  do 
know,  and  what  we  do  not  know,  would  make  two 
very  large  books,  and  we  may  safely  ask  to  be  let  alone 
as  to  the  second  volume. 

Brother,  say  what  you  know,  and  sit  down.  But  be 
calm  and  composed  while  speaking  of  that  with  which 
you  have  personal  acquaintance.  You  will  never 
properly  indulge  your  emotions  in  preaching,  so  as  to 
feel  at  home  with  the  people,  until  you  are  at  home 
with  your  subject.  When  you  know  what  you  are  at, 
you  will  have  your  mind  free  for  earnestness.  Unless 
you  open-air  preachers  know  the  gospel  from  begin- 
ning to  end,  and  know  where  you  are  in  preaching  it, 
you  cannot  preach  with  due  emotion;  but  when  you 
feel  at  home  with  your  doctrine,  stand  up  and  be  as 
bold,  and  earnest,  and  importunate  as  you  please.  Face 
the  people  feeling  that  you  are  going  to  tell  them 
something  worth  hearing,  about  which  you  are  quite 
sure,  which  to  you  is  your  very  life.  There  are  honest 
hearts  in  every  outdoor  assembly,  and  every  indoor 
assembly,  too,  that  only  want  to  hear  honest  beliefs, 
and  they  will  accept  them  and  be  led  to  believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

But  you  are  not  oiily  ivitnesses,  you  are  pleaders  for 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Now,  in  a  pleader,  much 
depends  upon  the  man.  It  seems  as  if  the  sign  and 
token  of  Christianity  in  some  preachers  was  not  a 
tongue  of  fire,  but  a  block  of  ice.  You  would  not  like 
to  have  a  barrister  stand  up  and  plead  your  cause  in 
a  cool,  deliberate  way,  never  showing  the  slightest 
care  about  whether  you  were  found  guilty  of  murder 
or  acquitted.    How  could  you  endure  his  indifference 


HOW  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST.  167 

when  you  yourself  were  likely  to  be  hanged?  Oh,  no! 
you  wish  to  silence  such  a  false  advocate.  So,  when 
a  man  has  to  speak  for  Christ,  if  he  is  not  in  earnest, 
let  him  go  to  bed.  You  smile;  but  is  it  not  better 
that  he  should  go  to  bed  than  send  a  whole  congre- 
gation to  sleep  without  their  going  to  bed?  Yes,  we 
must  be  in  downright  earnest.  If  we  are  to  prevail 
with  men,  we  must  love  them.  There  is  a  genuine 
love  to  men  that  some  have,  and  there  is  a  genuine  dis- 
like to  men  that  others  have.  I  know  gentlemen,  whom 
I  esteem  in  a  way,  who  seem  to  think  that  the  working 
classes  are  a  shockingly  bad  lot,  to  be  kept  in  check, 
and  governed  with  vigour.  With  such  views  they  will 
never  convert  workingmen.  To  win  men,  you  must 
feel:  'T  am  one  of  them.  If  they  are  a  sad  lot,  I  am 
one  of  them :  if  they  are  lost  sinners,  I  am  one  of  them ; 
if  they  need  a  Saviour,  I  am  one  of  them."  To  the 
very  chief  of  sinners  you  should  preach  with  this  text 
before  you,  "Such  were  some  of  you."  Grace  alone 
makes  us  to  differ,  and  that  grace  we  preach.  Genuine 
love  to  God  and  fervent  love  to  man  make  up  the  great 
qualifications  for  a  pleader. 

I  further  believe,  although  certain  persons  deny  it, 
that  the  influence  of  fear  is  to  be  exercised  over  the 
minds  of  men,  and  that  it  ought  to  operate  upon  the 
mind  of  the  preacher  himself.  "Noah,  moved  with 
fear,  prepared  an  ark  to  the  saving  of  his  house."  There 
was  salvation  for  this  world  from  perishing  in  the  flood 
in  the  fears  of  Xoah;  and  when  a  man  gets  to  fear 
for  others,  so  that  his  heart  cries  out,  "They  will  perish, 
they  will  perish,  they  will  sink  to  hell,  they  will  be  for 
ever  banished  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,"  and 
when  this  fear  oppresses  his  soul,  and  weighs  him 
down,  and  then  drives  him  to  go  out  and  preach  with 
tears,  oh,  then  he  will  plead  with  men  so  as  to  prevail! 


168  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

Knowing  the  terror  of  the  Lord,  he  will  persuade  men. 
To  know  the  terror  of  the  Lord  is  the  means  of  teach- 
ing us  to  persuade^  and  not  to  speak  harshly.  Some 
have  used  the  terrors  of  the  Lord  to  terrify;  but  Paul 
used  them  to  persuade.  Let  us  copy  him.  Say,  "We 
have  come  out  to  tell  you,  men  and  brethren,  that  the 
world  is  on  fire,  and  you  must  flee  for  your  lives,  and 
escape  to  the  mountain,  lest  ye  be  consumed."  We 
must  give  this  warning  with  the  full  conviction  that 
it  is  true,  or  else  we  shall  be  but  as  the  boy  who  in  fool- 
ishness cried,  "Wolf!"  Something  of  the  shadow  of  the 
last  tremendous  day  must  fall  upon  our  spirit  to  give  the 
accent  of  conviction  to  our  message  of  mercy,  or  we 
shall  miss  the  pleader's  true  power.  Brethren,  we  must 
tell  men  that  there  is  pressing  need  of  a  Saviour,  and 
show  them  that  we  ourselves  perceive  their  need  and 
feel  for  them,  or  else  we  are  not  likely  to  turn  them 
to  the  Saviour. 

He  that  pleads  for  Christ  should  himself  be  moved 
with  the  prospect  of  the  judgment  day.  When  I  come 
in  at  yonder  door  at  the  back  of  the  pulpit,  and  the  sight 
of  that  vast  crowd  bursts  upon  me,  I  frequently  feel 
appalled.  Think  of  these  thousands  of  immortal  souls 
gazing  through  the  windows  of  those  wistful  eyes,  and 
I  am  to  preach  to  them  all,  and  be  responsible  for  their 
blood  if  I  be  not  faithful  to  them.  I  tell  you,  it  makes 
me  feel  ready  to  start  back.  But  then  fear  is  not  alone. 
I  am  borne  up  by  the  hope  and  belief  that  God  intends 
to  bless  these  people  through  the  Word  which  He  will 
enable  me  to  deliver.  I  believe  that  everybody  in  that 
throng  is  sent  there  by  God  for  some  purpose,  and 
that  I  am  sent  to  effect  that  purpose.  I  often  think  to 
myself,  when  I  am  preaching,  "Who  is  being  convert- 
ed now?"  It  never  occurs  to  me  that  the  Word  of 
the  Lord  will  fail.    No,  that  can  never  be.    I  often  feel 


HOW  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST.  169 

sure  that  men  are  being  converted,  and  at  all  times  that 
God  is  glorified  by  the  testimony  of  His  truth.  You 
may  depend  upon  it  that  your  hopeful  conviction  that 
God's  Word  cannot  return  to  Him  void  is  a  great  en- 
couragement to  your  hearers  as  well  as  to  yourself. 
Your  enthusiastic  confidence  that  they  will  be  con- 
verted may  be  like  the  little  finger  of  a  mother  held  out 
to  her  babe,  to  help  it  to  make  its  way  to  her.  The  fire 
within  }our  hearts  may  dart  a  spark  into  their  souls 
by  which  the  flame  of  spiritual  life  shall  be  kindled  in 
them.  Do  let  us  all  learn  the  art  of  pleading  with  the 
souls  of  men. 

Still,  dear  open-air  preachers,  and  all  of  you  Christian 
people  here,  we  have  not  only  to  be  witnesses  and  plead- 
ers, but  we  have  also  to  be  examples.  One  of  the  most 
successful  ways  of  taking  wild  ducks  is  the  use  of  the 
decoy  bird.  The  decoy  duck  enters  the  net  itself,  and 
the  others  follow  it.  We  need  to  use  more,  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  the  holy  art  of  decoy;  that  is  to  say,  our 
example,  in  ourselves  coming  to  Christ,  in  ourselves 
living  godly  lives  in  the  midst  of  a  perverse  genera- 
tion, our  example  of  joy  and  sorrow,  our  example  of 
holy  submission  to  the  divine  will  in  the  time  of  trouble, 
our  example  in  all  manner  of  gracious  ways,  will  be  the 
means  of  inducing  others  to  enter  the  way  of  life. 
You  cannot,  of  course,  stand  up  in  the  street,  and  tell 
of  your  example;  but  there  is  no  street-preacher  who 
Is  not  known  better  than  he  thinks.  Some  one  in  that 
crowd  may  be  in  the  secret  of  the  speaker's  private  life. 
I  once  heard  of  an  out-of-doors  preacher,  to  whom  a 
hearer  cried  out,  "Ah,  Jack,  you  dare  not  preach  like 
that  at  your  own  door!"  It  so  happened,  unfortunately, 

that  ]\Ir.  John  had  offered  to  fight  one  of  his 

neighbours  a  little  while  before,  and  therefore  it  was 
not  likely  that  he  would  have  done  much  preaching 


170  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

very  near  home.  This  made  the  interruption  an  awk- 
ward one.  If  any  man's  Hfe  at  home  is  unworthy,  he 
should  go  several  miles  away  before  he  stands  up  to 
preach,  and  then,  when  he  stands  up,  he  should  say 
nothing.  They  know  us,  brethren ;  they  know  far  more 
about  us  than  we  imagine,  and  what  they  do  not  know 
they  make  up.  At  the  same  time,  our  walk  and  con- 
versation should  be  the  most  powerful  part  of  our  min- 
istry. This  is  what  is  called  being  consistent^  when 
lips  and  life  agree. 

My  time  is  short;  but  1  must  say  a  word  upon 
another  point.  I  have  said  that  the  working  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  depends  largely  upon  the  man  himself, 
but  I  am  bound  to  add  that  much  will  also  depend 
upon  the  ki7id  of  people  that  are  round  about  the 
preacher.  An  open-air  preacher,  who  has  to  go  out 
quite  alone,  must  be  in  a  very  unfortunate  position.  It 
is  extremely  helpful  to  be  connected  with  an  earnest 
living  church  which  will  pray  for  you ;  and  if  you  can- 
not find  such  a  church  where  you  labour,  the  next  best 
thing  is  to  get  half-a-dozen  brothers  or  sisters  who  will 
back  you  up,  and  go  out  with  you,  and,  especially, 
will  pray  with  you.  Some  preachers  are  so  independ- 
ent that  they  can  do  without  helpers,  but  they  will  be 
wise  if  they  do  not  affect  solitude.  May  they  not  look 
at  the  matter  in  this  way :  by  bringing  in  half-a-dozen 
men  to  go  out  with  me  I  shall  be  doing  good  to  these 
young  men,  and  shall  be  training  them  to  be  workers? 
If  you  can  associate  with  yourself  half-a-dozen  who 
are  not  all  very  young  men,  but  somewhat  advanced 
in  their  knowledge  of  divine  truth,  the  association  will 
be  greatly  to  your  mutual  advantage.  I  confess  to  you 
all  that,  although  God  has  largely  blessed  me  in  His 
work,  yet  none  of  the  credit  is  due  to  me  at  all,  but  to 
those  dear  friends  at  the  Tabernacle,  and,  indeed,  all 


HOW  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST.  171 

over  the  world,  who  make  me  the  special  subject  of 
their  prayers.  A  man  ought  to  do  well  with  such 
a  people  around  him  as  1  have.  My  dear  friend  and 
deacon,  ]Mr.  William  Olney,  once  said,  "Our  minister 
has  hitherto  led  us  forward,  and  we  have  followed 
heartily.  Everything  has  been  a  success;  do  you  not 
believe  in  his  leadership?"  The  people  cried,  "Yes." 
Then  said  my  dear  friend,  "If  our  pastor  has  brought 
us  up  to  a  ditch  which  looks  as  if  it  could  not  be  passed, 
let  us  fill  it  up  with  our  bodies,  and  carry  him  across." 
This  was  grand  talk:  the  ditch  was  filled,  nay,  it 
seemed  to  fill  itself  up  at  once.  If  you  have  a  true 
comrade,  your  strength  is  more  than  doubled.  What 
a  blessing  is  a  good  wife!  You  women,  who  would 
not  be  in  your  right  place  if  you  began  to  preach  in 
the  streets,  you  can  make  your  husbands  happy  and 
comfortable  when  they  come  home,  and  that  will  make 
them  preach  all  the  better!  Some  of  you  can  even  help 
in  another  way  if  you  are  prudent  and  gentle.  You  can 
tenderly  hint  that  your  spouse  was  a  little  out  of  line  in 
certain  small  matters,  and  he  may  take  your  hint,  and 
put  himself  right.  A  good  brother  once  asked  me 
to  give  him  some  instruction,  and  he  pleaded  thus: 
"The  only  instructor  I  have  had  was  my  wife,  who  had 
a  better  schooling  than  fell  to  my  lot.  I  used  to  say, 
'We  was,'  and  'Us  did  it,'  and  she  quietly  hinted  that 
people  might  laugh  at  me  if  1  did  not  attend  to  gram- 
mar." His  wife  thus  became  to  him  a  professor  of — 
of  English  language,  and  was  worth  her  weight  in  gold 
to  him,  and  he  knew  it.  You  who  have  such  helpers 
ought  to  thank  God  daily  for  them. 

Next  to  this,  it  is  a  very  great  assistance  to  join  in 
brotherly  league  with  some  warm-hearted  Christian 
who  knows  more  than  we  do,  and  will  benefit  us  by 
prudent  hints.    God  may  bless  us  for  the  sake  of  others 


172  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

when  He  might  not  bless  us  for  our  own.  You  have 
heard,  I  daresay,  the  monkish  story  of  the  man  who 
had  preached,  and  had  won  many  souls  to  Christ,  and 
congratulated  himself  upon  it.  One  night,  it  was  re- 
vealed to  him  that  he  should  have  none  of  the  honour 
of  it  at  the  last  great  day;  and  he  asked  the  angel  in  his 
dream  who  then  would  have  the  credit  of  it,  and  the 
angel  replied,  "That  deaf  old  man  who  sits  on  the  pulpit 
stairs  and  prays  for  you  was  the  means  of  the  bless- 
ing." Let  us  be  thankful  for  that  deaf  man,  or  that 
old  woman,  or  those  poor  praying  friends  who  bring 
down  a  blessing  upon  us  by  their  intercessions.  The 
Spirit  of  God  will  bless  two  when  He  might  not  bless 
one.  Abraham  alone  did  not  get  one  of  the  five  cities 
saved,  although  his  prayer  was  like  a  ton  weight  in 
the  scale;  but  yonder  was  his  nephew  Lot,  who  was 
about  the  poorest  lot  that  could  be  found.  He  had 
not  more  than  half-an-ounce  of  prayer  in  him;  but  that 
tiny  fragment  turned  the  scale,  and  Zoar  was  pre- 
served. Add  then  your  odd  half-ounce  to  the  mightier 
weight  of  the  pleadings  of  eminent  saints,  for  they 
may  need  it. 

Dear  brother  open-air  preachers,  I  am  not  trying  to 
instruct  you;  some  of  you  could  far  better  instruct 
me;  and  yet  I  do  not  know,  for  I  suspect  I  must  be 
getting  rather  old  from  what  I  hear.  A  woman,  at 
the  beginning  of  this  year  (1887),  was  trying  to  get 
something  out  of  me,  and  she  said,  "I  remember  hear- 
ing your  dear  voice  more  than  forty  years  ago."  I 
said,  "Heard  my  voice  forty  years  ago!  where  was 
that?"  She  said,  "You  were  preaching  at  the  bottom 
of  Pentonville  Hill,  near  where  Mr.  Sawday's  chapel 
is."  "Well,"  I  said,  "was  it  not  more  than  forty  years 
ago?"  "Yes,"  she  said,  "It  might  be  fifty."  "Oh," 
I  said,  L    suppose  I  was  quite  young  then?"    "Oh, 


HOW  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST.  173 

yes!"  she  said,  "you  were  such  a  dear  young  man." 
That,  of  course,  was  a  needless  assurance;  but  I  do 
not  think  she  was  quite  so  sure  of  my  dearness  when 
I  told  her  that  I  never  preached  at  the  bottom  of  Pen- 
tonvillc  Hill,  and  that  fifty  years  ago  I  was  only  three 
years  old,  and  that  I  thought  it  shameful  for  her  to 
suppose  that  I  should  give  her  money  for  telling  false- 
hoods. However,  I  shall  presume  upon  the  woman's 
statement  to-night,  and  suppose  myself  to  be  that  ven- 
erable person  she  described  me  as  being,  and  I  shall 
make  bold  to  say  to  you:  Dear  brethren,  if  we  are 
going  to  10 in  souls,  we  must  go  in  for  downright  labour 
and  hard  work. 

And,  first,  we  must  work  at  our  preaching.  You  are 
not  getting  distrustful  of  the  use  of  preaching,  are 
you?  C'No.")  I  hope  you  do  not  weary  of  it,  though 
you  certainly  sometimes  must  weary  in  it.  Go  on 
with  your  preaching.  Cobbler,  stick  to  your  last; 
preacher,  stick  to  your  preaching.  In  the  great  day, 
when  the  muster-roll  shall  be  read,  of  all  those  who 
are  converted  through  fine  music,  and  church  decora- 
tion, and  religious  exhibitions  and  entertainments,  they 
will  amount  to  the  tenth  part  of  nothing;  but  it  will 
always  please  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to 
save  them  that  believe.  Keep  to  your  preaching;  and 
if  you  do  anything  beside,  do  not  let  it  throw  your 
preaching  into  the  background.  In  the  first  place 
preach,  and  in  the  second  place  preach,  and  in  the 
third  place  preach. 

Believe  in  preaching  the  love  of  Christ,  believe  in 
preaching  the  atoning  sacrifice,  believe  in  preaching 
the  new  birth,  believe  in  preaching  the  whole  coun- 
sel of  God.  The  old  hammer  of  the  gospel  will  still 
break  the  rock  in  pieces;  the  ancient  fire  of  Pentecost 
will  still  burn  among  the  multitude.    Try  nothing  new. 


174  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

but  go  on  with  preaching,  and  if  we  all  preach  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven,  the  results 
of  preaching  will  astound  us.  Why,  there  is  no  end 
after  all  to  the  power  of  the  tongue!  Look  at  the 
power  of  a  bad  tongue,  what  great  mischief  it  can  do ; 
and  shall  not  God  put  more  power  into  a  good  tongue, 
if  we  will  but  use  it  aright?  Look  at  the  power  of 
fire,  a  single  spark  might  give  a  city  to  the  flames; 
even  so,  the  Spirit  of  God  being  with  us,  we  need 
not  calculate  how  much,  or  what  we  can  do:  there 
is  no  calculating  the  potentialities  of  a  flame,  and  there 
is  no  end  to  the  possibilities  of  divine  truth  spoken 
with  the  enthusiasm  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Have  great  hope  yet,  brothers,  have  great  hope  yet, 
despite  yon  shameless  midnight  streets,  despite  yon 
flaming  gin-palaces  at  the  corner  of  every  street,  de- 
spite the  wickedness  of  the  rich,  despite  the  ignorance 
of  the  poor.  Go  on;  go  on;  go  on;  in  God's  name, 
go  on,  for  if  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  does  not 
save  men,  nothing  will.  If  the  Lord's  own  way  of 
mercy  fails,  then  hang  the  skies  in  mourning,  and  blot 
out  the  sun  in  everlasting  midnight,  for  there  re- 
maineth  nothing  before  our  race  but  the  blackness 
of  darkness.  Salvation  by  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  is  the 
ultimatum  of  God.  Rejoice  that  it  cannot  fail.  Let  us 
believe  without  reserve,  and  then  go  straight  ahead 
with  the  preaching  of  the  Word. 

True-hearted  open-air  preachers  will  be  sure  to  join 
with  their  preaching  very  much  earnest  private  talk. 
What  numbers  of  persons  have  been  converted  in  this 
Tabernacle  by  the  personal  conversation  of  certain 
brothers  here,  whom  I  will  not  further  indicate!  They 
are  all  about  this  place  while  I  am  preaching!  I  recol- 
lect that  a  brother  was  speaking  to  me  one  Monday 
night,  and  suddenly  he  vanished  before  he  finished  the 


HOW  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST.  175 

sentence  which  he  was  whispering.  I  never  quite  knew 
what  he  was  going  to  say;  but  I  speedily  saw  him  in 
that  left-hand  gallery,  sitting  in  the  pew  with  a  lady 
unknown  to  me.  After  the  service,  I  said  to  him, 
"Where  did  you  go?"  and  he  said,  "A  gleam  of  sun- 
light came  in  at  the  window,  and  made  me  see  a  face 
which  looked  so  sad  that  I  hurried  upstairs,  and  took 
my  seat  in  the  pew  close  to  the  woman  of  a  sorrowful 
countenance."  "Did  you  cheer  her?"  "Oh,  yes!  she  re- 
ceived the  Lord  Jesus  very  readily;  and  just  as  she 
did  so,  I  noticed  another  eager  face,  and  I  asked  her 
to  wait  in  the  pew  till  after  the  service,  and  I  went  after 
the  other — a  young  man."  He  prayed  with  both  of 
these,  and  would  not  be  satisfied  until  they  had  given 
their  hearts  to  the  Lord.  That  is  the  way  to  be  on  the 
alert.  We  need  a  body  of  sharpshooters  to  pick  out 
their  men  one  by  one.  When  we  fire  great  guns  from 
the  pulpit  execution  is  done,  but  many  are  missed.  We 
want  loving  spirits  to  go  round,  and  deal  with  indi- 
vidual cases  in  the  singular  by  pointed  personal  warn- 
ings and  encouragements.  Every  open-air  preacher 
should  not  only  address  the  hundreds,  but  he  should 
be  ready  to  pounce  upon  the  ones,  and  he  should  have 
others  with  him  w^ho  have  the  same  happy  art.  How 
much  more  good  would  come  of  preaching  in  the 
streets  if  every  open-air  preacher  were  accompanied 
by  a  batch  of  persons  who  would  drive  his  nails  home 
for  him  by  personal  conversation! 

Last  Sunday  night,  my  dear  brother  told  us  a  little 
?tory  which  I  shall  never  forget.  He  was  at  Croydon 
Hospital  one  night,  as  one  of  those  appointed  to  visit 
it.  All  the  porters  had  gone  home,  and  it  was  time 
to  shut  up  for  the  night.  He  was  the  only  person  in 
the  hospital,  with  the  exception  of  the  physician,  when 
a  boy  came  running  in,  saying  that  there  was  a  rail- 


176  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

way  accident,  and  someone  must  go  round  to  the  sta- 
tion with  a  stretcher.  The  doctor  said  to  my  brother, 
"Will  you  take  one  end  of  the  stretcher  if  I  take  the 
other?"  "Oh,  yes!"  was  the  cheerful  reply;  and  so 
away  went  the  doctor  and  the  pastor  with  the  stretcher. 
They  brought  a  sick  man  back  with  them.  My 
brother  said,  "I  went  often  to  the  hospital  during 
the  next  week  or  two,  because  I  felt  so  much  interest  in 
the  man  w^hom  I  had  helped  to  carry."  I  believe  he  will 
always  take  an  interest  in  that  man,  because  he  once 
felt  the  weight  of  him.  When  you  know  how  to  carry 
a  man  on  your  heart,  and  have  felt  the  burden  of  his 
case,  you  will  have  his  name  engraven  upon  your  soul. 
So  you  that  privately  talk  to  people,  you  are  feeling 
the  w^eight  of  souls;  and  I  believe  that  this  is  what 
many  regular  preachers  need  to  know  more  of,  and 
then  they  will  preach  better. 

When  preaching  and  private  talk  are  not  available, 
you  have  a  tract  ready,  and  this  is  often  an  effectual 
method.  Some  tracts  would  not  convert  a  beetle :  there 
is  not  enough  in  them  to  interest  a  fly.  Get  good 
striking  tracts,  or  none  at  all.  But  a  telling,  touching 
gospel  tract  may  often  be  the  seed  of  eternal  life;  there- 
fore, do  not  go  out  without  your  tracts. 

I  suppose,  beside  giving  a  tract,  if  you  can,  you  try 
and  find  out  where  a  person  lives  who  frequently  hears 
you,  that  you  may  give  him  a  call.  What  a  fine  thing 
is  a  visit  from  an  open-air  preacher!  *'Why,"  says  the 
woman,  "there  is  that  man  come  to  see  you.  Bill;  that 
gentleman  who  preaches  at  the  corner  of  the  street. 
Shall  I  tell  him  to  come  in?"  "Oh,  yes!"  is  the  reply; 
"I  have  heard  him  many  times;  he  is  a  good  fellows" 
Visit  as  much  as  you  can,  for  it  will  be  of  use  to  your- 
selves as  wtII  as  to  the  people. 


HOW  TO  WIN  SOULS  FOR  CHRIST.  177 

What  power  there  is  also  in  a  letter  to  an  individual! 
Some  people  still  have  a  kind  of  superstitious  rever- 
ence for  a  letter;  and  when  they  get  an  earnest  epistle 
from  one  of  you  reverend  gentlemen,  they  think  a  great 
deal  of  it;  and  who  knows? — a  note  by  post  may  hit 
the  man  your  sermon  missed.  Young  people  who  are 
not  able  to  preach  might  do  much  good  if  they  would 
write  letters  to  their  young  friends  about  their  souls; 
they  could  speak  very  plainly  with  their  pens,  though 
they  might  be  diffident  in  speaking  with  their  tongues. 
Let  us  save  men  by  all  the  means  under  heaven;  let 
us  prevent  men  going  down  to  hell.  We  are  not  half 
as  earnest  as  we  ought  to  be.  Do  you  not  remember 
the  young  man,  who,  when  he  was  dying,  said  to 
his  brother,  "My  brother,  how  could  you  have  been 
so  indifferent  to  my  soul  as  you  have  been?"  He 
answered,  "I  have  not  been  indifferent  to  your  soul, 
for  I  have  frequently  spoken  to  you  about  it."  *'Oh, 
yes!"  he  said,  "you  spoke;  but  somehow,  I  think,  if  you 
had  remembered  that  I  was  going  down  to  hell,  you 
would  have  been  more  earnest  wdth  me;  you  would 
have  wept  over  me,  and,  as  my  brother,  you  would  not 
have  allowed  me  to  be  lost."    Let  no  one  say  this  of  you. 

But  I  hear  it  observed  that  most  fellows,  when  they 
grow  earnest,  do  such  odd  things,  and  say  such  strange 
things.  Let  them  say  strange  things,  and  let  them  do 
strange  things,  if  these  come  out  of  genuine  earnest- 
ness. We  do  not  want  pranks  and  performances  which 
are  the  mere  sham  of  earnestness;  but  real  white-heat 
earnestness  is  the  want  of  the  times,  and  where  you 
see  that  J  it  is  a  pit}^  to  be  too  critical.  You  must  let 
a  great  storm  rage  in  its  own  way.  You  must  let  a 
living  heart  speak  as  it  can.  If  you  are  zealous,  and  yet 
cannot  speak,  your  earnestness  will  invent  its  own 


178  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

method  of  working  out  its  purpose.  As  Hannibal  is 
said  to  have  mehed  the  rocks  with  vinegar,  so  earnest- 
ness will  one  way  or  another  dissolve  the  rocky  hearts 
of  men.  May  the  Spirit  of  God  rest  upon  you,  one  and 
all,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake!     Amen. 


THE  COST  OF  BEING  A  SOUL-WINNER. 


AN  ADDRESS  AT  A  TABERNACLE  PRAYER- 
MEETING. 


THE  COST  OF  BEING  A  SOUL- 
WINNER. 


I  want  to  say  a  word  to  you  who  are  trying  to  bring 
souls  to  Jesus.  You  long  and  pray  to  be  useful :  do  you 
know  what  this  involves?  Are  you  sure  that  you  do? 
Prepare  yourselves,  then,  to  see  and  suffer  many  things 
with  which  you  would  rather  be  unacquainted.  Ex- 
periences which  would  be  unnecessary  to  you  person- 
ally will  become  your  portion  if  the  Lord  uses  you  for 
the  salvation  of  others.  An  ordinary  person  may  rest 
in  his  bed  all  night,  but  a  surgeon  will  be  called  up 
at  all  hours;  a  farming  man  may  take  his  ease  at  his 
fireside,  but  if  he  becomes  a  shepherd  he  must  be  out 
among  the  lambs,  and  bear  all  weathers  for  them ;  even 
so  doth  Paul  say,  "Therefore  I  endure  all  things  for  the 
elect's  sakes,  that  they  may  also  obtain  the  salvation 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  with  eternal  glory."  For  this 
cause  we  shall  be  made  to  undergo  experiences  which 
will  surprise  us. 

Some  years  ago,  I  was  the  subject  of  fearful  depres- 
sion of  spirit.  Certain  troublous  events  had  happened 
to  me;  I  was  also  unwell,  and  my  heart  sank  within 
me.  Out  of  the  depths  I  was  forced  to  cry  unto  the 
Lord.  Just  before  I  went  away  to  Mentone  for  rest, 
I  suffered  greatly  in  body,  but  far  more  in  soul,  for 
my  spirit  was  overwhelmed.  Under  this  pressure,  I 
preached  a  sermon  from  the  words,  *'My  God,  My  God, 


182  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me?"  I  was  as  much  quaU- 
fied  to  preach  from  that  text  as  ever  I  expect  to  be;  in- 
deed, I  hope  that  few  of  my  brethren  could  have  en- 
tered so  deeply  into  those  heart-breaking  words.  I 
felt  to  the  full  of  my  measure  the  horror  of  a  soul  for- 
saken of  God.  Now,  that  was  not  a  desirable  experi- 
ence. I  tremble  at  the  bare  idea  of  passing  again 
through  that  eclipse  of  soul;  I  pray  that  I  may  never 
suffer  in  that  fashion  again  unless  the  same  result 
should  hang  upon  it. 

That  night,  after  sermon,  there  came  into  the  vestry 
a  man  who  was  as  nearly  insane  as  he  could  be  to  be 
out  of  an  asylum.  His  eyes  seemed  ready  to  start 
from  his  head,  and  he  said  that  he  should  utterly  have 
despaired  if  he  had  not  heard  that  discourse,  which 
had  made  him  feel  that  there  was  one  man  alive  who 
understood  his  feeling,  and  could  describe  his  experi- 
ence. I  talked  with  him,  and  tried  to  encourage  him, 
and  asked  him  to  come  again  on  Monday  night, 
when  I  should  have  a  little  more  time  to  talk  with 
him.  I  saw  the  brother  again,  and  I  told  him  that  I 
thought  he  was  a  hopeful  patient,  and  I  was  glad  that 
the  word  had  been  so  suited  to  his  case.  Apparently, 
he  put  aside  the  comfort  which  I  presented  for  his  ac- 
ceptance, and  yet  I  had  the  consciousness  upon  me 
that  the  precious  truth  which  he  had  heard  was  at 
work  upon  his  mind,  and  that  the  storm  of  his  soul 
would  soon  subside  into  a  deep  calm. 

Now  hear  the  sequel.  Last  night,  of  all  the  times 
in  the  year,  when,  strange  to  say,  I  was  preaching  from 
the  words,  "The  Almighty  hath  vexed  my  soul,"  after 
the  service,  in  walked  this  self-same  brother  who  had 
called  on  me  five  years  before.  This  time  he  looked  as 
dififerent  as  noonday  from  midnight,  or  as  life  from 
death.    I  said  to  him,  "I  am  glad  to  see  you,  for  I  have 


THE  COST  OF  BEING  A  SOUL-WINNER.  183 

often  thought  about  you,  and  wondered  whether  you 
were  brought  into  perfect  peace."  I  told  you  that  I 
went  to  Alentone,  and  my  patient  also  went  into  the 
country,  so  that  we  had  not  met  for  five  years.  To 
my  enquiries,  this  brother  replied,  "Yes,  you  said  I 
was  a  hopeful  patient,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  be  glad 
to  know  that  I  have  walked  in  the  sunlight  from  that 
day  till  now.  Everything  is  changed  and  altered  with 
me."  Dear  friends,  as  soon  as  I  saw  my  poor  despair- 
ing patient  the  first  time,  I  blessed  God  that  my  fear- 
ful experience  had  prepared  me  to  sympathise  with 
him  and  guide  him;  but  last  night,  when  I  saw  him 
perfectly  restored,  my  heart  overflowed  with  gratitude 
to  God  for  my  former  sorrowful  feelings.  I  w^ould  go 
into  the  deeps  a  hundred  times  to  cheer  a  downcast 
spirit:  it  is  good  for  me  to  have  been  afflicted  that  I 
might  know  how  to  speak  a  word  in  season  to  one  that 
is  weary. 

Suppose  that,  by  some  painful  operation,  you  could 
have  your  right  arm  made  a  little  longer,  I  do  not 
suppose  you  would  care  to  undergo  the  operation ;  but 
if  you  foresaw  that,  by  undergoing  the  pain,  you  would ' 
be  enabled  to  reach  and  save  drowning  men  who  else 
would  sink  before  your  eyes,  I  think  you  would  will- 
ingly bear  the  agony,  and  pay  a  heavy  fee  to  the  sur- 
geon to  be  thus  qualified  for  the  rescue  of  your  fel- 
lows. Reckon,  then,  that  to  acquire  soul-winning 
power  you  will  have  to  go  through  fire  and  water, 
through  doubt  and  despair,  through  mental  torment 
and  soul  distress.  It  will  not,  of  course,  be  the  same 
with  you  all,  nor  perhaps  with  any  two  of  you,  but 
according  to  the  work  allotted  you,  will  be  your  prep- 
aration. You  must  go  into  the  fire  if  you  are  to  pull 
others  out  of  it,  and  you  will  have  to  dive  into  the  floods 
if  vou  are  to  draw  others  out  of  the  water.    You  can- 


184  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

not  work  a  fire-escape  without  feeling  the  scorch  of 
the  conflagration,  nor  man  a  Hfeboat  without  being 
covered  with  the  waves.  If  Joseph  is  to  preserve  his 
brethren  aHve,  he  must  himself  go  down  into  Egypt; 
if  Moses  is  to  lead  the  people  through  the  wilderness, 
he  must  first  himself  spend  forty  years  there  with  his 
flock.  Payson  truly  said,  "If  anyone  asks  to  be  made 
a  successful  minister,  he  knows  not  what  he  asks;  and 
it  becomes  him  to  consider  whether  he  can  drink  deep- 
ly of  Christ's  bitter  cup  and  be  baptized  with  His  bap- 
tism." 

I  was  led  to  think  of  this  by  the  prayer  which  has 
just  been  offered  by  our  esteemed  brother,  Mr.  Levin- 
sohn.  He  is,  as  you  perceive,  of  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
and  he  owed  his  conversion  to  a  city  missionary  of 
his  own  nation.  If  that  city  missionary  had  not  himself 
been  a  Jew,  he  would  not  have  known  the  heart  of 
the  young  stranger,  nor  have  won  his  ear  for  the  gos- 
pel message.  Men  are  usually  won  to  Christ  by  suit- 
able instruments,  and  this  suitability  often  lies  in  the 
power  to  sympathize.  A  key  opens  a  door  because  it 
fits  the  wards  of  the  lock ;  an  earnest  address  touches 
the  heart  because  it  meets  the  state  of  that  heart.  You 
and  I  have  to  be  made  into  all  sorts  of  shapes  to 
suit  all  forms  of  mind  and  heart;  just  as  Paul  says, 
''And  unto  the  Jews  I  became  as  a  Jew,  that  I  might 
gain  the  Jews;  to  them  that  are  under  the  law, 
as  under  the  law,  that  I  might  gain  them  that 
are  under  the  law;  to  them  that  are  without  law, 
as  without  law  (being  not  without  law  to  God, 
but  under  the  law  to  Christ),  that  I  might  gain 
tliem  that  are  without  law.  To  the  weak  became  I  as 
weak,  that  I  might  gain  the  weak;  I  am  made  all 
things  to  all  men,  that  I  might  by  all  means  save  some." 
These  processes  must  be  wrought  out  upon  us  also. 


THE  COST  OF  BEING  A  SOUL-WINNER.  185 

Let  us  cheerfully  bear  whatever  the  Holy  Spirit  shall 
work  within  our  spirits  that  we  may  thus  be  the  more 
largely  blest  to  our  fellow-men.  Come,  brethren,  arid 
lay  your  all  on  the  altar!  Give  yourselves  up,  you  work- 
ers, into  the  Lord's  hand.  You  who  have  delicacy  and 
refinement,  may  have  to  be  shocked  into  the  power  to 
benefit  the  coarse  and  ignorant.  You  who  are  wise 
and  educated  may  have  to  be  made  fools  of,  that  you 
may  win  fools  to  Jesus;  for  fools  need  saving,  and 
many  of  them  will  not  be  saved  except  by  means  which 
men  of  culture  cannot  admire. 

How  finely  some  people  go  to  work  when  the  thing 
needed  may  not  be  daintiness,  but  energ}^!  On  the 
other  hand,  how  violent  some  are  when  the  desired 
thing  is  tact  and  gentleness,  and  not  force!  This  has 
to  be  learned;  we  must  be  trained  to  it  as  dogs  to 
follow  game.  Here  is  one  form  of  experience:  The 
brother  is  elegant;  he  wishes  to  speak  earnestly,  but 
he  must  be  elaborate,  too.  He  has  written  out  a  nice- 
ly-prepared address,  his  notes  are  carefully  arranged. 
Alas!  he  has  left  the  priceless  document  at  home!  What 
will  he  do?  He  is  too  gracious  to  give  up:  he  will  try 
to  speak.  He  begins  nicely,  and  gets  through  firsdy. 
"Fair  and  softly,  good  sir."  What  comes  next?  See, 
he  is  gazing  aloft  for  secondly.  What  should  be  said? 
What  can  be  said?  The  good  man  flounders  about, 
but  he  cannot  swim;  he  struggles  to  land,  and  as  he 
rises  from  the  flood  you  can  hear  him  mentally  saying, 
"That's  my  last  attempt."  Yet  it  is  not  so.  He  speaks 
again.  He  gathers  confidence;  he  grows  into  an  im- 
pressive speaker.  By  such  humiliations  as  these  the 
Lord  prepares  him  to  do  his  work  efificicntly.  In  our 
beginnings  we  are  too  fine  to  be  fit,  or  too  great  to 
be  good.  We  must  serve  an  apprenticeship,  and  thus 
learn  our  trade.    A  blacklead  pencil  is  of  no  use  at  all 


186  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

till  it  is  cut;  the  fine  cedar  wood  must  be  cut  away; 
and  then  the  inward  metal  which  marks  and  writes  will 
have  fair  play.  Brethren,  the  knife  of  affliction  is  sharp, 
but  salutary;  you  cannot  delight  in  it,  but  faith  may 
teach  you  to  value  it.  Are  you  not  willing  to  pass 
through  every  ordeal  if  by  any  means  you  may  save 
some?  If  this  be  not  your  spirit,  you  had  better  keep 
to  your  farm  and  to  your  merchandise,  for  no  man 
will  ever  win  a  soul  who  is  not  prepared  to  suffer 
everything  within  the  compass  of  possibility  for  that 
soul's  sake. 

A  good  deal  may  have  to  be  suffered  through  fear, 
and  yet  that  fear  may  assist  in  stirring  the  soul,  and 
putting  it  into  fit  posture  for  work;  at  least,  it  may 
drive  the  heart  to  prayer,  and  that  alone  is  a  great  part 
of  the  necessary  preparation.  A  good  man  thus  de- 
scribes one  of  his  early  attempts  at  visiting,  with  the 
view  of  speaking  to  individuals  upon  their  spiritual 
condition:  '1  was  thinking,  on  the  way  to  the  resi- 
dence of  the  party,  how  I  would  introduce  the  sub- 
ject, and  all  that  I  would  say.  And  all  the  while  I  was 
trembling  and  agitated.  Reaching  the  door,  it  seemed 
as  if  I  should  sink  through  the  stones;  my  courage 
was  gone,  and,  lifting  my  hand  to  the  knocker,  it 
dropped  at  my  side  without  touching  it.  I  went  partly 
down  the  steps  from  sheer  fear;  a  moment's  reflection 
sent  me  again  to  the  knocker,  and  I  entered  the  house. 
The  sentences  I  uttered  and  the  prayer  offered  were 
very  broken;  but  thankful,  very  thankful,  I  am  that 
my  fears  and  cowardice  did  not  prevail.  The  'ice  was 
broken.' "  That  process  of  ice-breaking  must  be  gone 
through,  and  its  result  is  highly  beneficial. 

O,  poor  souls,  you  that  wish  to  find  the  Saviour, 
Jesus  has  died  for  you;  and  now  His  people  live  for 
you!    We  cannot  offer  any  atoning  sacrifice  for  you; 


THE  COST  OF  BEING  A  SOUL-WINNER.  187 

there  is  no  need  that  we  should;  but  still  we  would 
gladly  make  sacrifices  for  your  soul's  sake.  Did  you 
not  hear  what  our  brother  said  just  now  in  his  prayer: 
We  would  do  anything,  be  anything,  give  anything, 
and  suffer  anything  if  we  might  but  bring  you  to  Christ? 
I  assure  you  that  many  of  us  feel  even  so.  Will  you 
not  care  for  yourselves?  Shall  we  be  earnest  about 
your  souls,  and  will  you  trifle  them  away?  Be  wiser, 
1  beseech  you,  and  may  infinite  wisdom  at  once  lead 
you  to  our  dear  Saviour's  feet.    Amen. 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  REWARD, 


ADDRESS  AT  A  TABERNACLE  PRAYER-MEETING. 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  REWARD. 


On  my  way  to  this  meeting-  I  observed  upon  the 
notice-board  of  the  police  station  a  striking  placard, 
offering'  a  large 

REWARD 

to  anyone  who  can  discover  and  bring  to  justice  the 
perpetrators  of  a  great  crime.  No  doubt  our  legisla- 
tors know  that  the  hope  of  a  huge  reward  is  the  only 
motive  which  will  have  power  with  the  comrades  of 
assassins.  The  common  informer  earns  so  much  scorn 
and  hate  that  few  can  be  induced  to  stand  in  his  place, 
even  when  piles  of  gold  are  offered.  It  is  a  poor  busi- 
ness at  best. 

It  is  far  more  pleasant  to  remember  that  there  is  a 
reward  for  bringing  men  to  mercy,  and  that  it  is  of  a 
higher  order  than  the  premium  for  bringing  men  to 
justice;  it  is,  moreover,  much  more  within  our  reach, 
and  that  is  a  practical  point  worthy  of  our  notice.  We 
cannot  all  hunt  down  criminals,  but  we  may  all  rescue 
the  perishing.  God  be  thanked  that  assassins  and  bur- 
glars are  comparatively  few,  but  sinners  who  need  to 
be  sought  and  saved  swarm  around  us  in  every  place. 
Here  is  scope  for  you  all ;  and  none  need  think  himself 
shut  out  from  the  rewards  which  love  bestows  on  all 
who  do  her  service. 

At  the  mention  of  the  word  REWARD,  some  will 


192  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

prick  up  their  ears,  and  mutter  'legality."  Yet  the 
reward  we  speak  of  is  not  of  debt,  but  of  grace;  and 
it  is  enjoyed,  not  with  the  proud  conceit  of  merit,  but 
with  the  grateful  delight  of  humility. 

Other  friends  will  whisper,  "Is  not  this  a  low  and 
mercenary  motive?"  We  reply  that  it  is  as  mercenary 
as  the  spirit  of  Moses,  who  "had  respect  unto  the  recom- 
pense of  the  reward."  In  this  matter,  all  depends  upon 
what  the  reward  is;  and  if  that  happens  to  be  the  joy 
of  doing  good,  the  comfort  of  having  glorified  God, 
and  the  bliss  of  pleasing  the  Lord  Jesus — then  the  as- 
piration to  be  allowed  to  endeavour  to  save  our  fellow- 
men  from  going  down  into  the  pit  is  in  itself  a  grace 
from  the  Lord ;  and  if  we  did  not  succeed  in  it,  yet  the 
Lord  would  say  of  it,  as  He  did  of  David's  intent  to 
build  a  temple,  "It  was  well  that  it  was  in  thine  heart." 
Even  if  the  souls  we  seek  should  all  persist  in  unbelief, 
if  they  all  despise  and  reject  and  ridicule  us,  yet  still 
it  will  be  a  divine  work  to  have  at  least  made  the  at- 
tempt. If  there  comes  no  rain  out  of  the  cloud,  yet  it 
has  screened  of¥  the  fierce  heat  of  the  sun;  all  is  not 
lost  even  if  the  greater  design  be  not  accomplished. 
What  if  we  only  learn  how  to  join  the  Saviour  in  His 
tears,  and  cry,  "How  often  would  I  have  gathered  you, 
but  ye  would  not!"  It  is  sublimity  itself  to  be  allowed 
to  stand  on  the  same  platform  with  Jesus,  and  weep 
with  him.  We  are  the  better  for  such  sorrows,  if  no 
others  are. 

But,  thank  God,  our  labours  are  not  in  vain  in  the 
Lord.  I  believe  that  the  most  of  you,  who  have  really 
tried,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  Scriptural 
teaching  and  by  prayer,  to  bring  others  to  Jesus,  have 
been  successful.  I  may  be  speaking  to  a  few  who  have 
not  succeeded;  if  so,  I  would  recommend  them  to  look 
steadily  over  their  motive,  their  spirit,  their  work,  and 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  REWARD.  193 

their  prayer,  and  then  begin  again.  Perhaps  they  may 
get  to  work  more  wisely,  more  behevingly,  more  hum- 
bly, and  more  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  They 
must  act  as  farmers  do  who,  after  a  p<:»or  harvest,  plough 
again  in  hope.  They  ought  not  to  be  dispirited,  but 
they  ought  to  be  aroused.  We  should  be  anxious  to 
find  out  the  reason  of  failure,  if  there  be  any,  and  we 
should  be  ready  to  learn  from  all  our  fellow-labourers; 
but  we  must  steadfastly  set  our  faces,  if  by  any  means 
we  may  save  some,  resolving  that  whatever  happens 
we  will  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  effect  the  salva- 
tion of  those  around  us.  How  can  we  bear  to  go  out 
of  the  world  without  sheaves  to  bear  with  us  rejoicing- 
ly? I  believe  that  the  most  of  us  who  are  now  assem- 
bled to  pray  have  been  successful  beyond  our  expecta- 
tions. God  has  blessed  us,  not  beyond  our  desires,  but 
yet  beyond  our  hopes. 

I  have  often  been  surprised  at  the  mercy  of  God  to 
myself.  Poor  sermons  of  mine,  that  I  could  cry  over 
when  I  get  home,  have  led  scores  to  the  cross;  and, 
more  wonderful  still,  words  that  I  have  spoken  in 
ordinary  conversation,  mere  chance  sentences,  as  men 
call  them,  have  nevertheless  been  as  winged  arrows 
from  God,  and  have  pierced  men's  hearts,  and  laid  them 
wounded  at  Jesus'  feet.  I  have  often  lifted  up  my  hands 
in  astonishment,  and  said,  "How  can  God  bless  such  a 
feeble  instnmientality?"  This  is  the  feeling  of  most 
who  addict  themselves  to  the  blessed  craft  of  fishing 
for  men,  and  the  desire  of  such  success  furnishes  as 
pure  a  motive  as  could  move  an  angel's  heart,  as  pure, 
indeed,  as  that  which  swayed  the  Saviour  when,  for  the 
joy  that  was  set  before  Him,  He  endured  the  cross, 
despising  the  shame.  "Doth  Job  serve  God  for 
nought?"  said  Satan.  If  he  could  have  answered 
the    question    in    the    af^rmative,    if    it    could    have 


194  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

been  proved  that  the  perfect  and  upright  man 
found  no  reward  in  his  holy  Hving,  then  Satan 
would  have  cavilled  at  the  justice-  of  God,  and 
urged  men  to  renounce  a  service  so  unprofitable. 
Verily  there  is  a  reward  to  the  righteous,  and 
in  the  lofty  pursuits  of  grace  there  are  recompenses 
of  infinite  value.  When  we  endeavour  to  lead  men  to 
God,  we  pursue  a  business  far  more  profitable  than  the 
pearl-fisher's  diving  or  the  diamond-hunter's  searching. 
No  pursuit  of  mortal  men  is  to  be  compared  with  that 
of  soul-winning.  I  know  what  I  say  when  I  bid  you 
think  of  it  as  men  think  of  entering  the  cabinet  of  the 
nation,  or  occupying  a  throne;  it  is  a  royal  business, 
and  they  are  true  kings  who  follow  it  successfully. 

The  harvest  of  godly  service  is  not  yet:  ''we  do 
with  patience  wait  for  it;"  but  we  have  earnests  of 
our  wage,  refreshing  pledges  of  that  which  is  laid  up 
in  heaven  for  us.  Partly,  this  reward  lies  in  the  work 
itself.  Men  go  hunting  and  shooting  for  mere  love  of 
the  sport;  surely,  in  an  infinitely  higher  sphere,  we 
may  hunt  for  men's  souls  for  the  pleasing  indulgence 
of  our  benevolence.  To  some  of  us,  it  would  be  an 
unendurable  misery  to  see  men  sink  to  hell,  and  to  be 
making  no  efifort  for  their  salvation.  It  is  a  reward 
to  us  to  have  a  vent  for  our  inward  fires.  It  is  woe  and 
weariness  to  us  to  be  shut  up  from  those  sacred  activi- 
ties which  aim  at  plucking  fire-brands  from  the  flame. 
We  are  in  deep  sympathy  with  our  fellows,  and  feel 
that,  in  a  measure,  their  sin  is  our  sin,  their  peril  our 
peril. 

If  another  lose  the  way, 
My  feet  also  go  astray; 
If  another  downward  go. 
In  my  heart  is  also  woe. 

It  IS  therefore  a  relief  to  set  forth  the  gospel,  that  we 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  REWARD.  195 

may  save  ourselves  from  that  sympathetic  misery  which 
echoes  in  our  hearts  the  crash  of  soul-ruin. 

Soul- winning  /s  a  scn'/cc  wliicJi  brings  great  benefit 
to  the  indiviiiuat  who  consecrates  himself  to  it.  Tho 
man  who  has  watched  for  a  soul,  prayed  for  it,  laid 
his  plans  for  it,  spoken  with  much  trembling,  and  en- 
deavoured to  make  an  impression,  has  been  educating 
himself  by  the  effort.  Having  been  disappointed,  he 
has  cried  to  God  more  earnestly,  has  tried  again,  has 
looked  up  the  promise  to  meet  the  case  of  the  con- 
victed one,  has  turned  to  that  point  of  the  divine  char- 
acter which  seems  most  likely  to  encourage  trembling- 
faith — he  has  in  every  step  been  benefiting  himself. 
When  he  has  gone  over  the  old,  old  story  of  the  cross 
to  the  weeping  penitent,  and  has  at  last  gripped  the 
hand  of  one  who  could  say:  ''I  do  believe,  I  will  be- 
lieve, that  Jesus  died  for  me";  I  say,  he  has  had  a  re- 
ward in  the  process  through  which  his  own  mind  has 
gone. 

It  has  reminded  him  of  his  own  lost  estate;  it  has 
shown  him  the  struggles  that  the  Spirit  had  in  bring- 
ing him  to  repentance;  it  has  reminded  him  of  that 
precious  moment  when  he  first  looked  to  Jesus;  and 
it  has  strengthened  him  in  his  firm  confidence  that 
Christ  will  save  men.  When  we  see  Jesus  save  an- 
other, and  see  that  marvellous  transfiguration  which 
passes  over  the  face  of  the  saved  one,  our  own  faith  is 
greatly  confirmed.  Sceptics  and  modern-thought  men 
have  little  to  do  with  converts:  those  who  labour  for 
conversions  believe  in  conversions;  those  who  behold 
the  processes  of  regeneration  see  a  miracle  wrought,  and 
are  certain  that  "this  is  the  finger  of  God."  It  is  the 
most  blessed  exercise  for  a  soul,  it  is  the  divinest  en- 
nobling of  the  heart,  to  spend  yourself  in  seeking  to 
bring:  another  to  the  dear  Redeemer's  feet.     If  it  ended 


196  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

there,  you  might  thank  God  that  ever  He  called  you  to 
a  service  so  comforting,  so  strengthening,  so  elevating, 
so  confirming,  as  that  of  converting  others  from  their 
evil  ways. 

Another  precious  recompense  is  found  in  the  grati- 
tude and  affection  of  those  you  bri?ig  to  Christ.  This 
is  a  choice  boon — the  blessedness  of  joying  in  another's 
joy,  the  bliss  of  hearing  that  you  have  led  a  soul  to 
Jesus.  Measure  the  sweetness  of  this  recompense  by 
the  bitterness  of  its  opposite.  Men  of  God  have  brought 
many  to  Jesus,  and  all  things  have  gone  well  in  the 
church  till  declining  years  or  change  of  fashions  have 
thrown  the  good  man  into  the  shade,  and  then  the 
minister's  own  spiritual  children  have  been  eager  to 
turn  him  out  of  doors.  The  unkindest  cut  of  all  has 
come  from  those  who  owed  their  souls  to  him.  His 
heart  was  broken  while  he  has  sighed,  'T  could  have 
borne  it,  had  not  the  persons  that  I  brought  to  the 
Saviour  have  turned  against  me."  The  pang  is  not 
unknown  to  me.  I  can  never  forget  a  certain  house- 
hold, in  which  the  Lord  gave  me  the  great  joy  to 
bring  four  employers  and  several  persons  engaged  by 
them  to  Jesus'  feet.  Snatched  from  the  utmost  care- 
lessness of  worldliness,  these  who  had  previously  known 
nothing  of  the  grace  of  God  were  joyful  confessors  of 
the  faith.  After  a  while,  they  imbibed  certain  opin- 
ions differing  from  ours,  and  from  that  moment  some 
of  them  had  nothing  but  hard  words  for  me  and  my 
preaching.  I  had  done  my  best  to  teach  them  all  the 
truth  I  knew,  and  if  they  had  found  out  more  than  I 
had  discovered,  they  might  at  least  have  remembered 
where  they  learned  the  elements  of  the  faith.  It  is  years 
ago  now,  and  I  have  never  said  as  much  as  this  before; 
but  I  feel  the  wound  much.     I  only  mention  these 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  REWARD,  11,7 

sharp  pricks  to  show  how  very  sweet  it  is  to  have  those 
about  you  whom  you  have  brought  to  the  Saviour. 

A  mother  feels  great  delight  in  her  children,  for  an 
intense  love  comes  with  natural  relationships;  but 
there  is  a  still  deeper  love  connected  with  spiritual 
kinship,  a  love  which  lasts  through  life,  and  will  con- 
tinue in  eternity,  for  even  in  heaven  each  servant  of  the 
Lord  shall  say,  "Here  am  I,  and  the  children  whom 
Thou  hast  given  me."  They  neither  marry  nor  are 
given  in  marriage  in  the  city  of  our  God,  but  father- 
hood and  brotherhood  in  Christ  shall  still  survive. 
Those  sweet  and  blessed  bonds  which  grace  has  formed 
continue  for  ever,  and  spiritual  relationships  are  rather 
developed  than  dissolved  by  translation  to  the  better 
land.  If  you  are  eager  for  real  joy,  such  as  you  may 
think  over  and  sleep  upon,  I  am  persuaded  that  no 
joy  of  growing  wealthy,  no  joy  of  increasing  knowl- 
edge, no  joy  of  influence  over  your  fellow-creatures, 
no  joy  of  any  other  sort,  can  ever  be  compared  with 
the  rapture  of  saving  a  soul  from  death,  and  helping 
to  restore  our  lost  brethren  to  our  great  Father's  house. 
Talk  of  ten  thousand  pounds  reward!  It  is  nothing 
at  all,  one  might  easily  spend  that  amount;  but  one 
cannot  exhaust  the  unutterable  delights  which  come 
from  the  gratitude  of  souls  converted  from  the  error 
of  their  ways. 

But  the  richest  reward  lies  in  p/easing  God,  and 
causing  the  Redeemer  to  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul. 
That  Jesus  should  have  His  reward,  is  worthy  of  the 
Eternal  Father;  but  it  is  marvellous  that  we  should 
be  employed  by  the  Father  to  give  to  Christ  the  pur- 
chase of  His  agonies.  This  is  a  wonder  of  wonders! 
O  my  soul,  this  is  an  honour  too  great  for  thee!  A 
bliss  too  deep  for  words!  Listen,  dear  friends,  and  an- 
swer me.    What  would  you  give  to  cause  a  thrill  of 


198  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

pleasure  in  the  heart  of  the  Well-beloved?  Recollect 
the  grief  you  cost  Him,  and  the  pangs  that  shot  through 
Him  that  He  might  deliver  you  from  your  sin  and  its 
consequences;  do  you  not  long  to  make  Him  glad? 
When  you  bring  others  to  His  feet,  you  give  him  joy, 
and  no  small  joy  either.  Is  not  that  a  wonderful  text: 
'There  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God  over 
one  sinner  that  repenteth?"  What  does  that  mean? 
Does  it  mean  that  the  angels  have  joy?  We  generally 
read  it  so,  but  it  is  not  the  intent  of  the  verse.  It  says, 
''There  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God" — 
that  is,  joy  in  the  heart  of  God,  around  whose  throne 
the  angels  stand.  It  is  a  joy  which  angels  delight  to  be- 
hold,— what  is  it?  Is  the  blessed  God  capable  of  greater 
joy  than  His  own  boundless  happiness?  Wondrous 
language  this!  The  infinite  bliss  of  God  is  more  emi- 
nently displayed,  if  it  cannot  be  increased.  Can  we  be 
the  instruments  of  this?  Can  we  do  anything  which 
will  make  the  Ever-blessed  glad?  Yes,  for  we  are  told 
that  the  great  Father  rejoices  above  measure  when  His 
prodigal  son  that  was  dead  is  alive  again,  and  the  lost 
one  is  found. 

If  I  could  say  this  as  I  ought  to  say  it,  it  would 
make  every  Christian  cry  out,  "Then  I  will  labour  to 
bring  souls  to  the  Saviour;"  and  it  would  make  those 
of  us  who  have  brought  many  to  Jesus  instant,  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  to  bring  more  to  Him.  It 
is  a  great  pleasure  to  be  doing  a  kindness  to  an 
earthly  friend,  but  to  be  doing  something  distinctly 
for  Jesus,  something  which  will  be  of  all  things  in  the 
world  most  pleasing  to  Him,  is  a  great  delight!  It  is 
a  good  work  to  build  a  meeting  house,  and  give  it 
outright  to  the  cause  of  God,  if  it  is  done  with  a  right 
and  proper  motive;  but  one  living  stone,  built  upon 
the  sure  foundation  by  our  instrumentality,  will  give 


THE  SOUL-WINNERS  REWARD.  199 

the  Alaster  mure  pleasure  than  if  vvc  erected  a  vast 
pile  of  natural  stones,  whieli  might  only  cumber  the 
ground.  Then  go,  dear  friends,  and  seek  to  bring  your 
children  and  your  neighbours,  your  friends  and  your 
kinsfolk,  to  the  Saviour's  feet,  for  nothing  will  give  him 
so  much  pleasure  as  to  see  them  turn  unto  Him  and 
live.  By  your  love  to  Jesus,  I  beseech  you,  become  fish- 
ers of  men. 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  LIFE  AND  WORK, 


'The  fruit  of  the  righteous  is  a  tree  of  life;  and  he  that 
winneth  souls  is  wise." — Proverbs  xi.  30. 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S    LIFE   AND 
WORK. 


It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  a  higher  joy  in  looking 
at  a  body  of  believers  than  that  which  arises  from  mere- 
ly regarding  them  as  saved.  Not  but  what  there  is  a 
great  joy  in  salvation,  a  joy  worthy  to  stir  the  angelic 
harps.  Think  of  the  Saviour's  agony  in  the  ransom 
of  every  one  of  His  redeemed,  think  of  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  every  renewed  heart,  think  of  the  love 
of  the  Father  as  resting  upon  every  one  of  the  regen- 
erate: I  could  not,  if  I  took  up  my  parable  for  a  month, 
set  forth  all  the  mass  of  joy  that  is  to  be  seen  in  a  mul- 
titude of  believers  if  we  only  look  at  what  God  has 
done  for  them,  and  promised  to  them,  and  will  fulfil 
in  them.  But  there  is  yet  a  wider  field  of  thought,  and 
my  mind  has  been  traversing  it  all  this  day—the  thought 
of  the  capacities  of  service  contained  in  a  numerous 
band  of  believers,  the  possibilities  of  blessing  others 
which  lie  within  the  bosoms  of  regenerate  persons.  We 
must  not  think  so  much  of  what  we  already  are  as  to 
forget  what  the  Lord  may  accomplish  by  us  for  others. 
Here  are  the  coals  of  fire,  but  who  shall  describe  the 
conflagration  which  they  may  cause? 

We  ought  to  regard  the  Christian  Church,  not  a.^  a 
luxurious  hostelry  where  Christian  gentlemen  may 
each  one  dwell  at  his  ease  in  his  own  inn,  but  as  a 
barracks  in  which  soldiers  are  gathered  together  to  be 


204  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

drilled  and  trained  for  war.  We  should  regard  the 
Christian  Church,  not  as  an  association  for  mutual  ad- 
miration and  comfort,  but  as  an  army  with  banners, 
marching  to  the  fray,  to  achieve  victories  for  Christ,  to 
storm  the  strongholds  of  the  foe,  and  to  add  province 
after  province  to  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  We  may 
view  converted  persons  gathered  into  church  member- 
ship as  so  much  wheat  in  the  granary.  God  be  thanked 
that  it  is  there,  and  that  so  far  the  harvest  has  rewarded 
the  sower;  but  far  more  soul-inspiring  is  the  view  when 
we  regard  those  believers  as  each  one  likely  to  be  made 
a  living  centre  for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of 
Jesus,  for  then  Ave  see  them  sowing  the  fertile  valleys  of 
our  land,  and  promising  ere  long  to  bring  forth  some 
thirty,  some  forty,  some  fifty,  and  some  a  hundredfold. 
The  capacities  of  life  are  enormous,  one  becomes  a 
thousand  in  a  marvellously  brief  space:  Within  a 
short  time  a  few  grains  of  wheat  would  suffice  to  seed 
the  whole  world,  and  a  few  true  saints  might  suffice  for 
the  conversion  of  all  nations.  Only  take  that  which 
comes  of  one  year,  store  it  well,  sow  it  all,  again  store  it 
next  year,  and  then  sow  it  all  again,  and  the  multiplica- 
tion almost  exceeds  the  power  of  computation.  Oh, 
that  every  Christian  were  thus  year  by  year  the  Lord's 
seed  corn!  If  all  the  wheat  in  the  world  had  perished 
except  a  single  grain,  it  w^ould  not  take  many  years  to 
replenish  all  the  earth,  and  sow  her  fields  and  plains; 
but  in  a  far  shorter  time,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  one  Paul  or  one  Peter  would  have  evangelised 
all  lands.  View  yourselves  as  grains  of  wheat  predes- 
tinated to  seed  the  world.  That  man  lives  grandly  who 
is  as  earnest  as  if  the  very  existence  of  Christianity  de- 
pended upon  himself,  and  is  determined  that  to  all 
men  within  his  reach  shall  be  made  known  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ. 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  LIFE  AND  WORK.  205 

If  we  whom  Christ  is  pleased  to  use  as  His  seed 
com  were  only  all  scattered  and  sown  as  we  ought  to 
be,  and  were  all  to  sprout  and  bring  forth  the  green 
blade  and  the  corn  in  the  ear,  what  a  harvest  there 
would  be!  Again  would  it  be  fulfilled,  "There  shall 
be  an  handful  of  corn  in  the  earth  upon  the  top  of  th^ 
mountains" — a  very  bad  position  for  it — "the  fruit 
thereof  shall  shake  like  Lebanon:  and  they  of  the  city 
shall  flourish  like  grass  of  the  earth."  May  God  grant 
us  to  feel  some  degree  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  quickening 
power  while  we  talk  together,  not  so  much  about  what 
God  has  done  for  us  as  about  what  God  may  do  dy 
us,  and  how  far  we  may  put  ourselves  into  a  right  posi- 
tion to  be  used  by  Him! 

There  are  two  things  in  the  text,  and  these  are  found 
laid  out  with  much  distinctness  in  its  two  sentences. 
The  first  is,  the  life  of  the  believer  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
full  of  soul-blessing:  ''The  fruit  of  the  righteous  is  a 
tree  of  life."  In  the  second  place,  the  pursuit  of  the 
believer  ought  always  to  be  soul-winning.  The  second 
is  much  the  same  as  the  first,  only  the  first  head  sets 
forth  our  unconscious  influence,  and  the  second  our 
efforts  which  we  put  forth  with  the  avowed  object  of 
winning  souls  for  Christ. 

Let  us  begin  at  the  beginning,  because  the  second 
cannot  be  carried  out  without  the  first :  without  fulness 
of  life  within  there  cannot  be  an  overflow  of  life  to 
others.  It  is  of  no  use  for  any  of  you  to  try  to  be 
soul-winners  if  you  are  not  bearing  fruit  in  your  own 
lives.  How^  can  you  serve  the  Lord  with  your  lips  if  you 
do  not  serve  Him  wdth  your  lives?  How  can  you  preach 
His  gospel  with  your  tongues,  when  with  hands, 
feet  and  hearts  you  are  preaching  the  devil's  gospel, 
and  setting  up  antichrist  by  your  practical  unholi- 
ness?    We  must  first  have  life  and  bear  personal  fruit 


20G  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

to  the  divine  glory,  and  then  out  of  our  example  will 
spring  the  conversion  of  others.  Let  us  go  to  the 
fountain-head,  and  see  how  the  believer's  own  life  is  es- 
sential to  his  being  useful  to  others. 

I.    THE  LIFE  OF  THE  BELIEVER  IS  FULL 
OF  SOUL-BLESSING. 

This  fact  we  shall  consider  by  means  of  a  few  ob- 
servations growing  out  of  the  text;  and,  first,  let  us 
remark  that  the  believer's  outward  life  comes  as  a 
matter  of  fruit  from  him.  This  is  prominent  to  notice. 
"The  fruit  of  the  righteous" — that  is  to  say,  his  life — 
is  not  a  thing  fastened  upon  him,  but  it  grows  out  of 
him.  It  is  not  a  garment  which  he  puts  off  and  on,  but 
it  is  inseparable  from  himself.  The  sincere  man's  re- 
ligion is  the  man  himself,  and  not  a  cloak  for  his  con- 
cealment. True  godliness  is  the  natural  outgrowth  of 
a  renewed  nature,  not  the  forced  growth  of  pious  hot- 
house excitement.  Is  it  not  natural  for  a  vine  to  bear 
clusters  of  grapes?  natural  for  a  palm  tree  to  bear  dates? 
Certainly,  as  natural  as  it  is  for  the  apples  of  Sodom 
to  be  found  on  the  trees  of  Sodom,  and  for  noxious 
plants  to  produce  poisonous  berries.  When  God  gives 
a  new  nature  to  His  people,  the  life  which  comes  out  of 
that  new  nature  springs  spontaneously  from  it.  The 
man  Vv^ho  has  a  religion  which  is  not  part  and  parcel  of 
himself  will  by-and-by  discover  that  it  is  worse  than 
useless  to  him.  The  man  who  wears  his  piety  like  a 
mask  at  a  carnival,  so  that,  when  he  gets  home,  he 
changes  from  a  saint  to  a  savage,  from  an  angel  to  a 
devil,  from  John  to  Judas,  from  a  benefactor  to  a  bully 
— such  a  man,  I  say,  knows  very  well  what  formalism 
and  hypocrisy  can  do  for  him,  but  he  has  no  vestige 
of  true  religion.    Fig  trees  do  not  bear  figs  on  certain 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  LIFE  AND  WORK.  207 

days,  and  thorns  at  other  times;  but  they  are  true  to 
their  nature  at  all  seasons. 

Those  who  think  that  godliness  is  a  matter  of  vest- 
ment, and  has  an  intimate  relation  with  blue,  and 
scarlet,  and  fine  linen,  are  consistent  if  they  keep  their 
religion  to  the  proper  time  for  the  wearing  of  their 
sacred  pomposities;  but  he  who  has  discovered  what 
Christianity  is  knows  that  it  is  much  more  a  life  than 
an  act,  a  form,  or  a  profession.  Much  as  I  love  the 
creed  of  Christendom,  I  am  ready  to  say  that  true  Chris- 
tianity is  far  more  a  life  than  a  creed.  It  is  a  creed,  and 
it  has  its  ceremonies,  but  it  is  mainly  a  life;  it  is  a  divine 
spark  of  heaven's  own  flame  which  falls  into  the  human 
bosom  and  burns  within,  consuming  much  that  lies 
hidden  in  the  soul,  and  then  at  last,  as  a  heavenly  life, 
flaming  forth,  so  as  to  be  seen  and  felt  by  those  around. 
Under  the  indwelling  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  a  re- 
generate person  becomes  like  that  bush  in  Horeb, 
which  was  all  aglow  with  Deity.  The  God  within  him 
makes  him  shine  so  that  the  place  around  him  is  holy 
ground,  and  those  who  look  at  him  feel  the  power  of  his 
hallowed  life. 

Dear  brethren,  we  must  take  care  that  our  religion 
is  more  and  more  a  matter  of  outgrowth  from  our 
souls.  Many  professors  are  hedged  about  with,  "You 
must  not  do  this,  or  that,"  and  are  driven  onward  with, 
"You  must  do  this,  and  you  must  do  that."  But  there 
is  a  doctrine,  too  often  perverted,  which  is,  neverthe- 
less, a  blessed  truth,  and  ought  to  dwell  in  your  hearts. 
"Ye  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace;"  hence 
you  do  not  obey  the  will  of  God  because  you  hope  to 
earn  heaven  thereby,  or  dream  of  escaping  from  divine 
wrath  by  your  own  doings,  but  because  there  is  a  life 
in  you  which  seeks  after  that  which  is  holy,  pure,  right 
and  true,  and  cannot  endure  that  which  is  evil.    You  are 


208  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

careful  to  maintain  good  works,  not  from  either  legal 
hopes  or  legal  fears,  but  because  there  is  a  holy  thing 
within  you,  born  of  God,  which  seeks,  according  to  its 
nature,  to  do  that  which  is  pleasing  to  God.  Look  to 
it  more  and  more  that  your  religion  is  real,  true,  nat- 
ural, vital — not  artificial,  constrained,  superficial,  a 
thing  of  times,  days,  places,  a  fungus  produced  by  ex- 
citement, a  fermentation  generated  by  meetings  and 
stirred  by  oratory.  We  all  need  a  religion  which  can 
live  either  in  a  wilderness  or  in  a  crowd;  a  religion 
which  will  show  itself  in  every  walk  of  life,  and  in 
every  company.  Give  me  the  godliness  which  is  seen 
at  home,  especially  around  the  fireside,  for  it  is  never 
more  beautiful  than  there;  that  is  seen  in  the  battle  and 
tussle  of  ordinary  business  among  scoffers  and  gain- 
sayers  as  well  as  among  Christian  men.  Show  me  the 
faith  which  can  defy  the  lynx  eyes  of  the  world,  and 
walk  fearlessly  where  all  scowl  with  the  fierce  eyes  of 
hate,  as  w^ell  as  -where  there  are  observers  to  sympa- 
thise, and  friends  to  judge  leniently.  May  you  be  filled 
with  the  life  of  the  Spirit,  and  your  whole  conduct  and 
conversation  be  the  natural  and  blessed  outgrowth  of 
that  Spirit's  indw^elling! 

Note,  next,  that  the  fruit  which  comes  from  a  Chris- 
iian  is  fruit  worthy  of  his  character:  *'The  fruit  of  the 
righteous  is  a  tree  of  life."  Each  tree  bears  its  own 
fruit,  and  is  known  by  it.  The  righteous  man  bears 
righteous  fruit;  and  do  not  let  us  be  at  all  deceived, 
brethren,  or  fall  into  any  error  about  this,  "he  that 
doeth  righteousness  is  righteous,"  and  "he  that  doeth 
not  righteousness  is  not  of  God,  neither  he  that  loveth 
not  his  brother.  We  are  prepared,  I  hope,  to  die  for 
the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  and  to  assert  be- 
fore all  adversaries  that  salvation  is  not  of  works;  but 
we  also  confess  that  we  are  justified  by  a  faith  which 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  LIFE  AND  WORK.  209 

produces  works,  and  if  any  man  has  a  faith  which 
does  not  produce  g^ood  works,  it  is  the  faith  of  devils. 
Saving  faith  appropriates  the  finished  work  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  so  saves  by  itself  alone,  for  we  are 
justified  by  faith  without  works;  but  the  faith  which 
is  without  works  cannot  bring  salvation  to  any  man. 
We  are  saved  by  faith  without  works,  but  not  by  a  faith 
that  is  without  works,  for  the  real  faith  that  saves  the 
soul  works  by  love  and  purifies  the  character.  If  you 
can  cheat  across  the  counter,  your  hope  of  heaven  is  a 
cheat,  too;  though  you  can  pray  as  prettily  as  any- 
body, and  practise  acts  of  outward  piety  as  well  as  any 
other  hypocrite,  you  are  deceived  if  you  expect  to  be 
right  at  last.  If  as  a  servant  you  are  lazy,  lying  and 
loitering,  or  if  as  a  master  you  are  hard,  tyrannical  and 
unchristianlike  towards  your  men,  your  fruit  shows 
that  you  are  a  tree  of  Satan's  own  orchard,  and  bear 
apples  which  will  suit  his  tooth.  If  you  can  practise 
tricks  of  trade,  and  if  you  can  lie — and  how  many  do 
lie  every  day  about  their  neighbour  or  about  their 
goods! — you  may  talk  as  you  like  about  being  justified 
by  faith,  but  all  liars  will  have  their  portion  in  the  lake 
that  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone,  and  amongst  the 
biggest  liars  you  will  be,  for  you  are  guilty  of  the  lie  of 
saying,  "I  am  a  Christian,"  whereas  you  are  not.  A 
false  profession  is  one  of  the  worst  of  lies,  since  it 
brings  the  utmost  dishonour  upon  Christ  and  His  peo- 
ple. The  fruit  of  the  righteous  is  righteousness:  the 
fig  tree  will  not  bring  forth  thorns,  neither  shall  we 
gather  grapes  from  thistles.  The  tree  is  known  by 
its  fruit,  and  if  we  cannot  judge  men's  hearts,  and  must 
not  try  to  do  so,  we  can  judge  their  lives;  and  I  pray 
God  we  may  all  be  ready  to  judge  our  own  lives,  and 
see  if  we  are  bringing  forth  righteous  fruit,  for  if  not,  we 
are  not  risfhteous  men. 


210  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

Let  it.  however,  never  be  forgotten  that  the  fruit  of 
the  righteous,  though  it  comes  from  him  naturally,  for 
his  new-born  nature  yields  the  sweet  fruit  of  obedi- 
ence, yet  it  is  always  the  i-csiilt  of  grace,  and  the  gift 
of  God.  No  truth  ought  to  be  remembered  more  than 
this,  "From  Me  is  thy  fruit  found."  We  can  bring 
forth  no  fruit  except  as  we  abide  in  Christ.  The  right- 
eous shall  flourish  as  a  branch,  and  only  as  a  branch. 
How  does  a  branch  flourish?  By  its  connection  with 
the  stem,  and  the  consequent  inflowing  of  the  sap ;  and 
so,  though  the  righteous  man's  righteous  actions  are 
his  own,  yet  they  are  always  produced  by  the  grace 
which  is  imparted  to  him,  and  he  never  dares  to  take 
any  credit  for  them,  but  he  sings,  "Not  unto  us,  O 
Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  Thy  name  give  praise." 
If  he  fails,  he  blame?  himself;  if  he  succeeds,  he  glori- 
fies God.  Imitate  his  example.  Lay  every  fault,  every 
weakness,  every  infirmity  at  your  own  door;  and  if 
you  fall  in  any  respect  short  of  perfection — and  I  am 
sure  you  do — take  all  that  to  yourself,  and  do  not  excuse 
yourself;  but  if  there  be  any  virtue,  any  praise,  any  true 
desire,  any  real  prayer,  anything  that  is  good,  ascribe  it 
all  to  the  Spirit  of  God.  Remember,  the  righteous  man 
would  not  be  righteous  unless  God  had  made  him 
righteous,  and  the  fruit  of  righteousness  would  never 
come  from  him  unless  the  divine  sap  within  him  had 
produced  that  acceptable  fruit.  To  God  alone  be  all 
honour  and  glory. 

The  main  lesson  of  the  passage  is  that  this  outbur=t 
of  life  from  the  Christian,  this  consequence  of  life  with  - 
in  him,  this  fruit  of  his  soul,  hecojnes  a  blessing  to 
others.  Like  a  tree,  it  yields  shade  and  sustenance  to 
all  around.  It  is  a  tree  of  life,  an  expression  which  I 
cannot  fully  work  out  as  I  would  wish,  for  there  is  a 
world  of  instruction  compressed  into  the  illustration. 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  LIFE  AND  WORK.  211 

That  which  to  the  beUever  himself  is  fruit  becomes  to 
others  a  tree:  it  is  a  singular  metaphor,  but  by  no 
means  a  lame  one.  From  the  child  ot  God  there  falls 
the  fruit  of  holy  living,  even  as  an  acorn  drops  from 
the  oak;  this  holy  living  becomes  influential  and  pro- 
duces the  best  results  in  others,  even  as  the  acorn 
becomes  itself  an  oak  and  lends  its  shade  to  the  birds 
of  the  air.  The  Christian's  holiness  becomes  a  tree 
of  life.  I  suppose  it  means  a  living  tree,  a  tree  calcu- 
Jated  to  give  life  and  sustain  it  in  others.  A  fruit 
becomes  a  tree!  A  tree  of  life!  Wonderful  result 
this!  Christ  in  the  Christian  produces  a  character 
which  becomes  a  tree  of  life.  The  outward  character 
is  the  fruit  of  the  inner  life;  this  outer  life  itself  grows 
from  a  fruit  into  a  tree,  and  as  a  tree  it  bears  fruit  in 
others  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  God.  Dear  brothers 
and  sisters,  I  know  some  of  God's  saints  who  live  very 
near  to  him,  and  they  are  evidently  a  tree  of  life,  for 
their  very  shadow  is  comforting,  cooling,  and  refresh- 
ing to  many  weary  souls.  I  have  known  the  young, 
the  tried,  the  downcast,  go  to  them,  sit  beneath  their 
shade,  and  pour  out  the  tale  of  their  troubles,  and  they 
have  felt  it  a  rich  blessing  to  receive  their  sympathy, 
to  be  told  of  the  faithfulness  of  the  Lord,  and  to  be 
guided  in  the  way  of  wisdom.  There  are  a  few  good 
men  in  this  world  whom  to  know  is  to  be  rich.  Such 
men  are  libraries  of  gospel  truth;  but  they  are  better 
than  books,  for  the  truth  in  them  is  written  on  living 
pages.  Their  character  is  a  true  and  living  tree;  it  is 
not  a  mere  post  of  the  dead  wood  of  doctrine,  bearing 
an  inscription,  and  rotting  while  it  does  so,  but  it  is  a 
vital,  organized,  fruit-producing  thing,  a  plant  of  the 
Lord's  right-hand  planting. 

Not  only  do  some  saints  give  comfort  to  others,  but 
they  also  yield  them   spiritual   nourishment.      Well- 


213  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

trained  Christians  become  nursing  fathers  and  nursmg 
mothers,  strengthening  the  weak,  and  binding  up  the 
wounds  of  the  broken-hearted.  So,  too,  the  strong, 
bokl,  generous  deeds  of  large-hearted  Christians  are 
of  great  service  to  their  fellow-Christians,  and  tend  to 
raise  them  to  a  higher  level.  You  feel  refreshed  by 
observing  how  they  act;  their  patience  in  sufifering, 
their  courage  in  danger,  their  holy  faith  in  God,  their 
happy  faces  under  trial, — all  these  nerve  you  for  your 
own  conflicts.  In  a  thousand  ways,  the  sanctified 
believer's  example  acts  in  a  healing  and  comforting 
way  to  his  brethren,  and  assists  in  raising  them  above 
anxiety  and  unbelief.  Even  as  the  leaves  of  the  tree 
of  life  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations,  so  the  words 
and  deeds  of  saints  are  medicine  for  a  thousand 
maladies. 

And  then  what  fruit,  sweet  to  the  taste  of  the  godly, 
instructed  believers  bear!  We  can  never  trust  in  men 
as  we  trust  in  the  Lord,  but  the  Lord  can  cause  the 
members  to  bless  us  in  their  measure,  even  as  their 
Head  is  ever  ready  to  do.  Jesus  alone  is  the  Tree  of 
Life,  but  He  makes  some  of  his  servants  to  be  instru- 
mentally  to  us  little  trees  of  life,  by  whom  He  gives 
us  fruit  of  the  same  sort  that  He  bears  Himself,  for  he 
puts  it  there,  and  it  is  Himself  in  His  saints  causing 
them  to  bring  forth  golden  apples,  with  which  our 
souls  are  gladdened.  May  we  every  one  of  us  be  made 
like  our  Lorcl,  and  may  His  fruit  be  found  upon  our 
boughs ! 

We  have  put  into  the  tomb  many  of  the  saints  who 
have  fallen  asleep,  and  among  them  there  were  some 
of  whom  I  will  not  at  this  moment  speak  particularly, 
whose  lives  as  I  look  back  upon  them  are  still  a  tree 
of  life  to  me.  I  pray  God  that  I  may  be  like  them. 
]\Iany  of  you  knew  them,  and  if  you  will  only  recall 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  LIFE  AND  WORK.  213 

their  holy,  devoted  Hvcs,  the  influence  they  have  left 
behind  will  still  be  a  tree  of  life  to  you.  They  beini^ 
dead  yet  speak;  hear  ye  their  eloquent  exhortations! 
Even  in  their  ashes  live  their  wonted  fires;  kindle 
your  souls  at  their  warmth.  Their  noble  examples 
are  the  endowments  of  the  church,  her  children  are 
ennobled  and  enriched  as  they  remember  their  walk 
of  faith  and  labour  of  love.  Beloved,  may  we  every 
one  of  us  be  true  benedictions  to  the  churches  in 
whose  gardens  we  are  planted!  "Oh!"  says  one,  "I 
am  afraid  I  am  not  much  like  a  tree,  for  I  feel  so 
weak  and  insignificant."  If  you  have  faith  as  a  grain 
of  mustard  seed,  you  have  the  commencement  of  the 
tree  beneath  whose  branches  the  birds  of  the  air  will 
yet  find  a  lodging.  The  very  birds  that  w^ould  have 
eaten  the  tiny  seed  come  and  find  lodgment  in  the 
tree  which  grows  out  of  it;  and  people  who  despise 
and  mock  at  you,  now  that  you  arc  a  young  beginner, 
will  one  of  these  days,  if  God  blesses  you,  be  glad  to 
borrow  comfort  from  your  example  and  experience. 

But  one  other  thought  on  this  point.  Remember 
that  the  conipIrtc7iess  and  dcvclopmcjit  of  the  holy  life 
will  be  seen  above.  There  is  a  city  of  which  it  is 
written,  "In  the  midst  of  the  street  of  it,  and  on  eitlier 
side  of  the  river,  was  there  the  tree  of  life."  The  tree 
of  life  is  a  heavenly  plant,  and  so  the  fruit  of  the 
Christian  is  a  thing  of  heaven;  though  not  trans- 
planted to  the  glory  land,  it  is  getting  fit  for  its  final 
abode.  What  is  holiness  but  heaven  on  earth? 
What  is  living  unto  God  but  the  essence  of  heaven? 
What  arc  uprightness,  integrity,  Christ-likeness? 
I  lave  not  these  even  more  to  do  with  heaven  than 
harps  and  palms  and  streets  of  purest  gold?  Holiness, 
purity,  loveliness  of  character, — these  make  a  heaven 
within  a  man's  own  bosom;    and  even  if  there  were 


214  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

no  place  called  heaven,  that  heart  would  have  a 
heavenly  happiness  which  is  set  free  from  sin,  and 
made  like  the  Lord  Jesus.  See,  then,  dear  brethren, 
what  an  important  thing  it  is  for  us  to  be  indeed 
righteous  before  God,  for  then  the  outcome  of  that 
righteousness  shall  be  fruit  which  will  be  a  tree  of  life 
to  others,  and  a  tree  of  life  in  heaven  above,  world 
without  end.  O  blessed  Spirit,  make  it  so,  and  Thou 
shalt  have  all  the  praise ! 

II.  This  brings  us  to  our  second  head.  THE 
PURSUIT  OF  THE  BELIEVER  SHOULD  BE 
SOUL-WINNING.  For  "he  that  winneth  souls  is 
wise."  The  two  things  are  put  together — the  life  first, 
the  efifort  next:  what  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no 
man  put  asunder. 

It  is  implied  in  our  text  that  tJici'e  ai-e  souls  wJiich 
need  winning.  Ah,  me!  all  souls  of  men  are  lost  by 
nature.  You  might  walk  through  the  streets  of  Lon- 
don, and  say,  with  sighs  and  tears,  of  the  masses  of 
men  you  meet  upon  those  crowded  pavements,  "Lost, 
lost,  lost!"  Wherever  Christ  is  not  trusted,  and  the 
Spirit  has  not  created  a  new  heart,  and  the  soul  has 
not  come  to  the  great  Father,  there  is  a  lost  soul.  But 
here  is  the  mercy — these  lost  souls  can  be  won.  They 
are  not  hopelessly  lost;  not  yet  has  God  determined 
that  they  shall  forever  abide  as  they  are.  It  is  not 
yet  said,  "He  that  is  filthy,  let  him  be  filthy  still;" 
but  they  are  in  the  land  of  hope  where  mercy  may 
reach  them,  for  they  are  spoken  of  as  capable  of  being 
won.  They  may  yet  be  delivered,  but  the  phrase  hints 
that  it  will  need  all  our  efforts:  *'He  that  7oinncth 
souls." 

What  do  we  mean  by  that  word  win?  We  use  it 
in  love-making.  We  speak  of  the  bridegroom  who 
wins  his  bride ;  and  sometimes  there  is  a  large  expense 


THE  SOUL-WINNERS  LIFE  AND  WORK.  215 

of  love,  many  a  pleading  word,  and  many  a  wooing 
act,  ere  yet  the  valned  heart  is  all  the  suitor's  own.  I 
use  this  explanation  because  in  some  respects  it  is  the 
very  best,  for  souls  will  have  to  be  won  for  Christ  in 
this  fashion,  that  they  may  be  espoused  unto  Him. 
We  must  make  love  to  the  sinner  for  Christ;  that  is 
how  hearts  are  to  be  won  for  him.  Jesus  is  the  Bride- 
groom, and  we  must  speak  for  Him,  and  tell  of  His 
beauty,  as  Abraham's  servant,  when  he  went  to  seek  a 
wife  for  Isaac,  acted  as  a  wooer  in  his  stead.  Have 
you  never  read  the  story?  Then  turn  to  it  v'hcn  you 
get  home,  and  see  how  he  talked  about  his  master,  what 
possessions  he  had,  and  how  Isaac  was  to  be  heir  of 
it  all,  and  so  on,  and  then  he  finished  his  address  by 
urging  Rebecca  to  go  with  him.  The  question  was 
put  home  to  her,  "Wilt  thou  go  with  this  man?"  So 
the  minister's  business  is  to  commend  his  blaster  and 
his  Master's  riches,  and  then  to  say  to  souls,  "Will  you 
be  wedded  to  Christ?"  He  who  can  succeed  in  this 
very  delicate  business  is  a  wise  man. 

We  also  use  the  term  in  a  military  fashion.  We 
speak  of  winning  a  city,  a  castle,  or  a  battle.  We  do 
not  win  victories  by  going  to  sleep.  Believe  me, 
castles  are  not  captured  by  men  who  are  only  half 
awake.  To  win  a  battle,  needs  the  best  skill,  the 
greatest  endurance,  and  the  utmost  courage.  To 
storm  fortresses,  which  are  regarded  as  almost  im- 
pregnable, men  need  to  burn  the  midnight  oil,  and 
study  well  the  arts  of  attack;  and,  when  the  time 
comes  for  the  assault,  not  a  soldier  must  be  a  laggard. 
but  all  force  of  artiller\-  and  manhood  must  be  brought 
to  bear  on  the  point  assailed.  To  carry  man's  heart 
by  main  force  of  grace,  to  capture  it,  to  break  down 
the  bars  of  brass  and  dash  the  gates  of  iron  in  pieces, 
requires  the  exercise  of  a  skill  which  only  Christ  can 


216  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

give.  To  bring  up  the  big  battering-rams,  and  shake 
every  stone  in  the  sinner's  conscience,  to  make  his  heart 
rock  and  reel  within  him  for  fear  of  the  wrath  to  come, 
— in  a  word,  to  assail  a  soul  with  all  the  artillery  of  the 
gospel,  needs  a  wise  man,  and  one  fully  aroused  to  his 
work.  To  hold  up  the  white  flag  of  mercy,  and,  if  that 
be  despised,  to  use  the  battering-ram  of  threatening 
until  a  breach  is  made,  and  then,  with  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit  in  his  hand,  to  capture  the  city,  to  tear  down 
the  black  flag  of  sin,  and  run  up  the  banner  of  the 
cross,  needs  all  the  force  the  choicest  preacher  can 
command,  and  a  great  deal  more.  Those  whose  souls 
are  as  cold  as  the  Arctic  regions,  and  whose  energy 
is  reduced  to  the  vanishing  point,  are  not  likely  to 
take  the  city  of  Mansoul  for  Prince  Emmanuel.  If 
you  think  you  are  going  to  win  souls,  you  must  throw 
your  soul  into  your  work,  just  as  a  warrior  must  throw 
his  soul  into  a  battle,  or  victory  will  not  be  yours. 

We  use  the  words  "to  win''  in  reference  to  making 
a  fortune,  and  we  all  know  that  the  man  who  becomes 
a  millionaire  has  to  rise  up  early,  and  sit  up  late,  and 
eat  the  bread  of  carefulness,  and  it  takes  a  deal  of 
toiling  and  saving,  and  I  know  not  what  besides,  to 
amass  immense  wealth.  We  have  to  go  in  for  winning 
souls  with  the  same  ardour  and  concentration  of  our 
faculties  as  old  Astor  of  New  York  went  in  to  build 
up  that  fortune  of  so  many  millions  which  he  has  now 
left  behind  him.  It  is,  indeed,  a  race,  and  you  knov; 
that,  in  a  race,  nobody  wins  unless  he  strains  every 
muscle  and  sinew.  'They  that  run  in  a  race  run  all 
but  one  receiveth  the  prize;"  and  that  one  is  generally 
he  wlio  had  more  strength  than  the  rest;  certainly, 
v/hether  he  had  more  strength  or  not,  he  put  out  all  he 
liad,  and  we  shall  not  win  souls  unless  we  imitate  him 
in  this. 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  LIFE  AND  WORK.  21/ 

Solomon  in  the  text  declares  that,  ''He  that  winneth 
souls  is  wise,"  and  such  a  declaration  is  all  the  more 
valuable  as  coming  from  so  wise  a  man.  Let  me  show 
you  why  a  soul-winner  is  wise.  First,  he  viust  be 
taught  of  God  before  he  will  attempt  it.  The  man 
who  does  not  know  that,  whereas  he  was  once  blind, 
now  he  sees,  had  better  think  of  his  own  blindness 
before  he  attempts  to  lead  his  friends  in  the  right  way. 
If  not  saved  yourself,  you  cannot  be  the  means  of  sav- 
ing others.  He  that  winneth  souls  must  be  wise  unto 
salvation  first  for  himself. 

That  being  taken  for  granted,  he  is  a  wise  man  to 
select  such  a  pursuit.  Young  man,  are  you  choosing 
an  object  worthy  to  be  the  great  aim  of  your  life?  I 
do  hope  you  will  judge  wisely,  and  select  a  noble 
ambition.  If  God  has  given  you  great  gifts,  I  hope 
they  will  not  be  wasted  on  any  low,  sordid,  or  selfish 
design.  Suppose  I  am  now  addressing  one  who  has " 
great  talents,  and  has  an  opportunity  of  being  what  he 
likes,  of  going  into  Parliament,  and  helping  to  pass 
great  measures,  or  of  going  into  business,  and  making 
himself  a  man  of  importance;  I  hope  he  will  weigh 
the  claims  of  Jesus  and  immortal  souls  as  well  as  other 
claims.  Shall  I  addict  myself  to  study?  Shall  I  sur- 
render myself  to  business?  Shall  I  travel?  Shall  I 
spend  my  time  in  pleasure?  Shall  I  become  the  prin- 
cipal fox-hunter  of  the  county?  Shall  I  lay  out  my 
time  in  promoting  political  and  social  reforms?  Think 
them  all  over;  but  if  you  are  a  Christian  man,  my  dear 
friend,  nothing  will  equal  in  enjoyment,  in  usefulness, 
in  honour,  and  in  lasting  recompense  the  giving  your- 
self up  to  the  winning  of  souls.  Oh,  it  is  grand  hunt- 
ing, I  can  tell  you,  and  beats  all  the  fox-hunting  in  the 
world  in  excitement  and  exhilaration!  Have  I  not 
sometimes  gone  with  a  cry  over  hedge  and  ditch  after 


218  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

some  poor  sinner,  and  kept  well  up  with  him  in  every 
twist  and  turn  he  took,  till  I  have  overtaken  him  by 
God's  grace,  and  been  in  at  the  death,  and  rejoiced 
exceedingly  when  I  have  seen  him  captured  by  my 
Master?  Our  Lord  Jesus  calls  His  ministers  fisher- 
men, and  no  other  fishermen  have  such  labour,  such 
sorrow,  and  such  delight  as  we  have.  What  a  happy 
thing  it  is  that  you  may  win  souls  for  Jesus,  and  may 
do  this  though  you  abide  in  your  secular  callings! 
Some  of  you  would  never  win  souls  in  pulpits;  it 
would  be  a  great  pity  if  you  tried,  but  you  can  win 
souls  in  the  workshop,  and  in  the  laundry,  in  the 
nursery,  and  in  the  drawing-room.  Our  hunting 
grounds  are  everywhere:  by  the  wayside,  by  the  fire- 
side, in  the  corner,  and  in  the  crowd.  Among  the 
common  people  Jesus  is  our  theme,  and  among  the 
great  ones  we  have  no  other.  You  will  be  wise,  my 
brother,  if  for  you  the  one  absorbing  desire  is  that  you 
may  turn  the  ungodly  from  the  error  of  their  ways. 
For  you  there  will  be  a  crown  glittering  with  many 
stars,  which  you  shall  cast  at  Jesus'  feet  in  the  day  of 
His  appearing. 

Further,  it  is  not  only  wise  to  make  this  your  aim, 
but  you  will  have  to  be  very  wise  if  yon  succeed  in  it, 
because  the  souls  to  be  won  are  so  different  in  their 
constitutions,  feelings,  and  conditions,  and  you  will 
have  to  adapt  yourselves  to  them  all.  The  trappers 
of  North  America  have  to  find  out  the  habits  of  the 
animals  they  wish  to  catch,  and  so  you  will  have  to 
learn  how  to  deal  with  each  class  of  cases.  Some  are 
very  depressed,  you  will  have  to  comfort  them.  Per- 
haps you  will  comfort  them  too  much,  and  make  them 
unbelieving;  and,  therefore,  possibly,  instead  of  com- 
forting them,  you  will  need  sometimes  to  administer 
a  sharp  word  to  cure  the  sulkiness  into  which  they  have 


THE  SOUL-WINNERS  LIFE  AND  WORK.  2UJ 

fallen.  Another  person  may  be  frivolous,  and  if  you  put 
on  a  serious  face  you  will  frighten  your  bird  away ;  you 
will  have  to  be  cheerful,  and  drop  a  word  of  admoni- 
tion as  if  by  accident.  Some  people,  again,  will  not 
let  you  speak  to  them,  but  will  talk  to  you;  you  must 
know^  the  art  of  putting  a  w'ord  in  edgeways.  You  will 
have  to  be  very  wise,  and  become  all  things  to  all  men, 
and  your  success  will  prove  your  wisdom.  Theories 
of  dealing  wath  souls  may  look  very  wise,  but  they 
often  prove  to  be  useless  when  actually  tried:  he  who 
by  God's  grace  accomplishes  the  work  is  a  wise  man, 
though  perhaps  he  knows  no  theory  whatever.  This 
work  will  need  all  your  wdt,  and  far  more,  and  you  will 
have  to  cry  to  the  great  Winner  of  souls  above  to  give 
you  of  His  Holy  Spirit. 

But,  mark  you,  he  that  wdns  souls  is  wise,  because 
he  is  engaged  in  a  business  which  makes  men  wiser 
as  they  proceed  with  it.  You  will  bungle  at  first,  and 
very  likely  drive  sinners  off  from  Christ  by  your 
attempts  to  draw  them  to  Him.  I  have  tried  to 
move  some  souls  with  all  my  might  with  a  certain 
passage  of  Scripture,  but  they  have  taken  it  in  an 
opposite  light  to  what  it  was  intended,  and  have  started 
off  in  the  wrong  direction.  It  is  very  dif^cult  to  know 
how  to  act  with  bewildered  enquirers.  If  you  want 
some  people  to  go  forward,  you  must  pull  them  back- 
wards. If  you  want  them  to  go  to  the  right,  you  must 
insist  upon  their  going  to  the  left,  and  then  they  go 
to  the  right  directly.  You  must  be  ready  for  these 
follies  of  poor  human  nature.  I  knew  a  poor  aged 
Christian  woman  who  had  been  a  child  of  God 
fifty  years,  but  she  was  in  a  state  of  melan- 
choly and  distress,  from  which  nobody  could  arouse 
her.  I  called  several  times,  and  endeavoured  to 
cheer    her   up,    but   generall}'    when    I    left    she    was 


220  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

worse  than  before.  So,  the  next  time  I  called  to  see 
her,  I  did  not  say  anything  to  her  about  Christ  or 
religion.  She  soon  introduced  those  topics  herself, 
and  then  I  remarked  that  I  was  not  going  to  talk  to 
her  about  such  holy  things,  for  she  did  not  know  any- 
thing about  them,  for  she  was  not  a  believer  in  Christ, 
and  had  been,  no  doubt,  a  hypocrite  for  many  years. 
She  could  not  stand  that,  and  asserted,  in  self-defense, 
that  the  Lord  above  knew  her  better  than  I  did,  and  He 
was  her  witness  that  she  did  love  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  She  scarcely  forgave  herself  afterwards  for 
that  admission,  but  she  could  never  talk  to  me  quite 
so  despairingl}^  any  more.  True  lovers  of  men's  souls 
learn  the  art  of  dealing  with  them,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
makes  them  expert  soul-surgeons  for  Jesus.  It  is  not 
because  a  man  has  more  abilities,  nor  altogether 
because  he  has  more  grace,  but  the  Lord  makes  him 
to  love  the  souls  of  men  intensely,  and  this  imparts 
a  secret  skill,  since,  for  the  most  part,  the  way  to  get 
sinners  to  Christ  is  to  love  them  to  Christ. 

Beloved  brethren,  I  will  say,  once  more,  he  who 
I'eally  wins  souls  for  Jestts,  however  he  wins  them,  is  a 
tvise  man.  Some  of  you  are  slow  to  admit  this.  You 
say, — "Well,  So-and-so,  I  daresay,  has  been  very 
useful,  but  he  is  very  rough."  What  does  his  rough- 
ness matter  if  he  wins  souls?  "Ah!"  says  another, 
"but  I  am  not  built  up  under  him."  Why  do  you  go 
to  hear  him  to  get  built  up?  If  the  Lord  has  sent 
him  to  pull  down,  let  him  pull  down,  and  do  you  go 
elsewhere  for  edification;  but  do  not  grumble  at  a 
man  who  does  one  work  because  he  cannot  do  an- 
other. We  are  also  too  apt  to  pit  one  minister  against 
another,  and  say,  "You  should  hear  my  minister." 
Perhaps  we  should,  but  it  would  be  better  for  you  to 
hear  the  man  who  edifies  you,  and  let  others  go  where 


THE  SOUL-WINNER'S  LIFE  AND  WORK.  221 

they  also  are  instructed.  *'He  that  winneth  souls  is 
wise."  I  do  not  ask  you  how  he  did  it.  He  sang  the 
gospel,  and  you  did  not  like  it;  but  if  he  won  souls, 
he  was  wise.  Soul-winners  have  all  their  own  ways; 
and  if  they  do  but  win  souls,  they  are  wise.  I  will  tell 
you  what  is  not  wise,  and  will  not  be  thought  so  at 
the  last,  namely,  to  go  about  the  churches,  doing 
nothing  yourself,  and  railing  at  all  the  Lord's  useful 
servants. 

Here  is  a  dear  brother  on  his  dying  bed,  he  has  the 
sweet  thought  that  the  Lord  enabled  him  to  bring 
many  souls  to  Jesus,  and  the  expectation  when  he 
comes  to  the  gates  that  many  spirits  will  come  to  meet 
h-m.  They  will  throng  the  ascent  to  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem, and  welcome  the  man  who  brought  them  to  Jesus. 
They  are  immortal  monuments  to  his  labours.  He  is 
wise.  Here  is  another  who  has  spent  all  his  time  in 
interpreting  the  prophecies,  so  that  everything  he  read 
of  in  the  newspapers  he  could  see  in  Daniel  or  the 
Revelation.  He  is  wise,  so  some  say,  but  I  had  rather 
spend  my  time  in  winning  souls.  I  would  sooner 
bring  one  sinner  to  Jesus  Christ  than  unpick  all  the 
mysteries  of  the  divine  Word,  for  salvation  is  the  thing 
we  are  to  live  for.  I  would  to  God  that  I  understood 
all  mysteries,  yet  chief  of  all  would  I  proclaim  the 
mystery  of  soul-saving  by  faith  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb.  It  is  comparatively  a  small  matter  for  a  min- 
ister to  have  been  a  staunch  upholder  of  orthodoxy 
all  his  days,  and  to  have  spent  himself  in  keeping  u]) 
the  hedges  of  his  church;  soul-winning  is  the  main 
concern.  It  is  a  very  good  thing  to  contend  earnestly 
for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints;  but  I  do  not 
think  I  should  like  to  say  in  my  last  account,  "Lord, 
I  have  lived  to  fight  the  Romanists  and  the  State 
Church,  and  to  put  down  the  various  erroneous  sects. 


222  -  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

but  I  never  led  a  sinner  to  the  cross."  No,  we  will 
fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  but  the  winning  of  souls 
is  the  greater  matter,  and  he  who  attends  to  it  is  wise. 
Another  brother  has  preached  the  truth,  but  he  did  so 
polish  up  his  sermons  that  the  gospel  was  hidden. 
Never  a  sermon  was  fit  to  preach,  he  thought,  until 
he  had  written  it  out  a  dozen  times  to  see  whether  every 
sentence  would  be  according  to  the  canons  of  Cicero 
and  Quintillian,  and  then  he  went  and  delivered  the 
gospel  as  a  grand  oration.  Is  that  wise?  Well,  it 
takes  a  wise  man  to  be  a  thorough  orator;  but  it  is 
better  not  to  be  an  orator  if  fine  speech  prevents  your 
being  understood.  Let  eloquence  be  flung  to  the  dogs 
rather  than  souls  be  lost.  What  we  want  is  to  win 
souls,  and  they  are  not  to  be  won  by  flowery  speeches. 
We  must  have  the  winning  of  souls  at  heart,  and  be  red 
hot  with  zeal  for  their  salvation;  and  then,  however 
much  we  blunder,  according  to  the  critics,  we  shall  be 
numbered  among  those  whom  the  Lord  calls  wise. 

Now,  Christian  men  and  women,  I  want  you  to  take 
this  matter  up  practically,  and  to  determine  that  you 
will  try  this  very  night  to  win  a  soul.  Try  the  one 
next  to  you  in  the  seat  if  you  cannot  think  of  anybody 
else.  Try  on  the  way  home;  try  with  your  own  chil- 
dren. Have  I  not  told  you  of  what  happened  one 
Sunday  evening?  In  my  sermon  I  said,  "Now,  you 
mothers,  have  you  ever  prayed  with  each  of  your 
children,  one  by  one,  and  urged  them  to  lay  hold  on 
Christ?  Perhaps  dear  Jane  is  now  in  bed,  and  you 
have  never  yet  pleaded  with  her  about  eternal  things. 
Go  hom.e  to-night,  wake  her  up,  and  say,  ']a.ne,  I  am 
sorry  I  have  never  told  you  about  the  Saviour  person- 
ally, and  prayed  with  you,  but  I  mean  to  do  it  now.' 
Wake  her  up,  and  put  your  arms  round  her  neck,  and 
pour  out  your  heart  to  God  with  her."    Well,  there 


THE  SOUL- WINNER'S  LIFE  AND  WOTRK.  223 

was  a  good  sister  here  who  had  a  daughter  named 
fane.     What  do  you  think?     She  came  on  ?^Ionday  to 
bring  her  daughter  Jane  to  see  me  in  tlie  vestry,  for 
when  she  woke  her  up,  and  began,  "I  have  not  spoken 
to  you  about  Jesus,"  or  something  to  that  effect,  "Oh, 
dear  mother!"  said  Jane,  "I  have  loved  the  Saviour 
these  six  months,  and  wondered  you  had  not  spoken  to 
me  about  Him;"  and  then  there  was  great  kissing  and 
rejoicing.     Perhaps  you  may  find  that  to  be  the  case 
with  a  dear  child  at  home ;  and,  if  you  do  not,  so  much 
the  more  reason  why  you  should  begin  at  once  to 
speak.     Did  you  never  win  a  soul  for  Jesus "i*     You 
shall  have  a  crown  in  heaven,  but  no  jewels  in  it.     You 
will  go  to  heaven  childless;  and  you  know  how  it  was 
in  the  old  times,  how  the  women  dreaded  lest  they 
should  be  childless.     Let  it  be  so  with  Christian  people ; 
let  them  dread  being  spiritually  childless.     We  must 
hear  the  cries  of  those  wliom  God  has  given  to  be  bom 
unto   himself   by    our    means.     We    must  hear   them 
or  else  cry  out  in  anguish,  "Give  me  converts,  or  I  die." 
Young  men  and  old  men,  and  sisters  of  all  ages,  if 
you  love  the  Lord,  get  a  passion  for  souls.     Do  you 
not  see  them?    They  arc  going  down  to  hell  by  thou- 
sands;  as  often  as  the  hand  upon  the  dial  completes 
its  circuit,  hell  devours  multitudes,  some  of  them  igno- 
rant of  Christ  and  others  wilfully  rejecting  Him.    The 
world  lies  in  darkness:    this  great  city  still  pines  for 
the  light:   your  own  friends  and  kinsfolk  are  unsaved, 
and  they  may  be  dead  ere  this  week  is  over.    Oh,  if  you 
have  any  humanity,  let  alone  Christianity,  if  you  have 
found  the  remedy,  tell  the  diseased  about  it!     If  you 
have  found  life,  proclaim  it  to  the  dead;   if  you  have 
found  liberty,  publish  it  to  the  captives;    if  you  have 
found  Christ,  tell  of  Him  to  others.     ^ly  brethren  in 
the  College,  let  this  be  your  choice  work  while  study- 


224  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

ing,  and  let  it  be  the  one  object  of  your  lives  when 
you  go  forth  from  us.  Do  not  be  content  when  you 
gGt  a  congregation,  but  labour  to  win  souls;  and  as 
you  do  this,  God  will  bless  you.  As  for  us,  we  hope 
during  the  rest  of  our  lives  to  follow  Him  who  is  T/ie 
Soul-Winner,  and  to  put  ourselves  in  His  hands  who 
maketh  us  soul-winners,  so  that  our  life  may  not  be 
a  long  folly,  but  may  be  proved  by  results  to  have  been 
directed  by  wisdom. 

O  you  souls  not  won  to  Jesus,  remember  that  faith 
in  Christ  saves  you!  Trust  in  Him.  May  you  be  led 
to  trust  in  Him,  for  His  name's  sake!    Amen. 


SOUL  WINNING  EXPLAINED. 


'He  that  winneth  souls  is  wise."— Proverbs  xi.  30. 


SOUL-WINNING  EXPLAINED. 


The  text  does  not  say,  "He  that  winneth  sovereigns 
is  wise,"  though  no  doubt  he  thinks  himself  wise,  and 
perhaps,  in  a  certain  grovelHng-  sense,  in  these  days 
of  competition,  he  must  be  so;  but  such  wisdom  is  of 
the  earth,  and  ends  with  the  earth;  and  there  is  an- 
other world  where  the  currencies  of  Europe  will  not 
be  accepted,  nor  their  past  possession  be  any  sign  of 
wealth  or  wisdom.  Solomon,  in  the  text  before  us, 
awards  no  crown  for  wisdom  to  crafty  statesmen,  or 
even  to  the  ablest  of  rulers;  he  issues  no  diplomas  even 
to  philosophers,  poets  or  men  of  wit;  he  crowns  with 
laurel  only  those  who  win  souls.  He  does  not  declare 
that  he  who  preaches  is  necessarily  wise;  and  alas! 
there  are  multitudes  who  preach,  and  gain  much  ap- 
plause and  eminence,  who  win  no  souls,  and  who  shall 
find  it  go  hard  with  them  at  the  last,  because  in  all 
probability  they  have  nm  and  the  Master  has  never 
sent  them.  Solomon  does  not  say  that  he  who  talks 
about  winning  souls  is  wise,  since  to  lay  down  rules 
for  others  is  a  very  simple  thing,  but  to  carry  them  out 
one's  self  is  far  more  difificult.  He  w^ho  actually,  really 
and  truly  turns  men  from  the  error  of  their  ways  to 
God,  and  so  is  made  the  means  of  saving  them  from 
going  down  to  hell,  is  a  wise  man ;  and  that  is  true  of 
him  whatever  his  style  of  soul-winning  may  be:  He 
may  be  a  Paul,  deeply  logical,  profound  in  doctrine, 
able  to  conmiand  all  candid  judgments;  and  if  he  thus 


228  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

wins  souls,  he  is  wise.  He  may  be  an  Apollos,  grand- 
ly rhetorical,  whose  lofty  genius  soars  into  the  very 
heaven  of  eloquence ;  and  if  he  wins  souls  in  that  way 
he  is  wise,  but  not  otherwise.  Or  he  may  be  a  Cephas, 
rough  and  rugged,  using  uncouth  metaphor  and  stern 
declamation;  but,  if  he  wins  souls,  he  is  no  less  wise 
than  his  polished  brother  or  his  argumentative  friend, 
but  not  else.  The  great  wisdom  of  soul-winners,  ac- 
cording to  the  text,  is  proven  only  by  their  actual  suc- 
cess in  really  winning  souls.  To  their  own  Master  they 
are  accountable  for  the  ways  in  which  they  go  to  work, 
not  to  us.  Do  not  let  us  be  comparing  and  contrasting 
this  minister  and  that.  Who  art  thou  that  judges  an- 
other man's  servants?  Wisdom  is  justified  in  all  her 
children.  Only  children  wrangle  about  incidental 
methods:  men  look  at  sublime  results.  Do  these  work- 
ers of  many  sorts  and  divers  manners  win  souls?  Then 
they  are  wise ;  and  you  who  criticise  them,  being  your- 
selves unfruitful,  cannot  be  wise,  even  though  you 
afifect  to  be  their  judges.  God  proclaims  soul-winners 
to  be  wise,  dispute  it  who  dare.  This  degree  from  the 
College  of  Heaven  may  surely  stand  them  in  good 
stead,  let  their  fellow-mortals  say  what  they  will  of 
them. 

*'He  that  winneth  souls  is  wise,"  and  this  can  be 
seen  very  clearly.  He  must  be  a  wise  man  in  even 
ordinary  respects  who  can  by  grace  achieve  so  divine 
a  marvel.  Great  soul-winners  never  have  been  fools. 
A  man  whom  God  qualifies  to  win  souls  could  prob- 
ably do  anything  else  which  providence  might  allot 
him.  Take  Martin  Luther,  for  instance.  Why,  sirs, 
the  man  was  not  only  fit  to  work  a  Reformation,  but 
he  could  have  ruled  a  nation  or  have  commanded  an 
army!  Think  of  Whiteiield,  and  remember  that  the 
thundering  eloquence  which  stirred  all  England  was 


SOUL-WINNING  EXPLAINED.  229 

not  associated  with  a  weak  judgment,  or  an  absence 
of  brain-power;  the  man  was  a  master-orator,  and  if 
he  had  addicted  himself  to  commerce,  would  have 
taken  a  chief  place  amongst  the  merchants,  or  had  he 
been  a  politician,  amid  admiring-  senates  would  have 
commanded  the  listening  ear.  He  that  winneth  souls 
is  usually  a  man  who  could  have  done  anything  else  if 
God  had  called  him  to  it.  I  know  the  Lord  uses  wdiat 
means  He  wills,  but  He  always  uses  means  suitable 
to  the  end;  and  if  you  tell  me  that  David  slew  Goliath 
with  a  sling,  I  answer — it  was  the  best  w^eapon  in  the 
world  to  reach  so  tall  a  giant,  and  the  very  fittest 
weapon  that  David  could  have  used,  for  he  had  been 
skilled  in  it  from  his  youth  up.  There  is  always  an 
adaptation  in  the  instruments  which  God  uses  to  pro- 
duce the  ordained  result;  and  though  the  glory  is  not 
to  them,  nor  the  excellence  in  them,  but  all  is  to  be 
ascribed  to  God,  yet  is  there  a  fitness  and  preparedness 
which  God  seeth,  even  if  we  do  not.  It  is  assuredly 
true  that  soul-winners  are  by  no  means  idiots  or  sim- 
pletons, but  such  as  God  maketh  wise  for  Himself, 
though  vain-glorious  wise-acres  may  dub  them  fools. 
"He  that  winneth  souls  is  wise,"  because  he  has  select- 
ed a  wise  object.  I  think  it  was  Michael  Angelo  who 
once  carved  certain  magnificent  statues  in  snow.  They 
are  gone;  the  material  readily  compacted  by  the  frost 
as  readily  melted  in  the  heat.  Far  wiser  was  he  when 
he  fashioned  the  enduring  marble,  and  produced  works 
which  will  last  all  down  the  ages.  But  even  marble  it- 
self is  consumed  and  fretted  by  the  tooth  of  time ;  and 
he  is  wise  who  selects  for  his  raw  material  immortal 
souls,  w^hose  existence  shall  outlast  the  stars.  If  God 
shall  bless  us  to  the  winning  of  souls,  our  w^ork  shall  re- 
main when  the  wood,  and  hay,  and  stubble  of  earth's 
art  and  science  shall  have  gone  to  the  dust  from  which 


230  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

they  sprang.  In  heaven  itself,  the  soul-winner,  blessed 
of  God,  shall  have  memorials  of  his  work  preserved 
for  ever  in  the  galleries  of  the  skies.  He  has  selected  a 
w'ise  object,  for  w^hat  can  be  wiser  than  to  glorify  God, 
and  what,  next  to  that,  can  be  wiser  than  in  the  highest 
sense  to  bless  our  fellowmen;  to  snatch  a  soul  from 
the  gulf  that  yawns,  to  lift  it  up  to  the  heaven  that 
glorifies ;  to  deliver  an  immortal  from  the  thraldom  of 
Satan,  and  to  bring  him  into  the  liberty  of  Christ? 
What  more  excellent  than  this?  I  say,  that  such  an  aim 
would  commend  itself  to  all  right  minds,  and  that 
angels  themselves  may  envy  us  poor  sons  of  men  that 
we  are  permitted  to  make  this  our  life-object,  to  win 
souls  for  Jesus  Christ.  Wisdom  herself  assents  to  the 
excellence  of  the  design. 

To  accomplish  such  a  work,  a  man  must  be  wise, 
for  to  win  a  soul  requires  infinite  wdsdoni.  God  Him- 
self wins  not  souls  without  wisdom,  for  the  eternal 
plan  of  salvation  was  dictated  by  an  infallible  judg- 
ment, and  in  every  line  of  it  infinite  skill  is  apparent. 
Christ,  God's  great  Soul-Winner,  is  "the  wisdom  of 
God"  as  well  as  "the  power  of  God."  There  is  as 
much  wasdom  to  be  seen  in  the  new  creation  as  in  the 
old.  In  a  sinner  saved,  there  is  as  much  of  God  to  be 
beheld  as  in  a  universe  rising  out  of  nothing;  and  we, 
then,  w-ho  are  to  be  workers  together  with  God,  pro- 
ceeding side  by  side  with  Him  to  the  great  work  of 
soul-winning,  must  be  wise,  too.  It  is  a  work  which 
filled  the  Saviour's  heart,  a  work  which  moved  the  mind 
of  the  Eternal  Jehovah  or  ever  the  earth  was.  It  is 
no  child's  play,  nor  a  thing  to  be  achieved  while  we  are 
half  asleep,  nor  to  be  attempted  without  deep  consid- 
eration, nor  to  be  carried  on  without  gracious  help  from 
the  only-wise  God,  our  Saviour.    The  pursuit  is  wise. 

Mark  ye  well,  my  brethren,  that  he  who  is  success- 


SOUL-WlNNlNG  EXPLAINED.  231 

fill  ill  soul-winning,  will  prove  to  have  been  a  wise  man 
in  the  judgment  of  those  who  see  the  end  as  well  as 
the  beginning.  Even  if  1  were  utterly  selfish,  and  had 
no  care  for  anything  l)ut  my  own  happiness,  I  would 
choose,  if  I  might,  under  God,  to  be  a  soul-winner, 
for  never  did  1  know  perfect,  overflow^ing,  unutter- 
able happiness  of  the  purest  and  most  ennobling  order 
till  I  first  heard  of  one  who  had  sought  and  found  a 
Saviour  through  my  means.  I  recollect  the  thrill  of 
joy  whicii  went  through  me!  No  young  mother  ever 
rejoiced  so  much  over  her  first-born  child,  no  warrior 
was  so  exultant  over  a  hard-won  victory.  Oh!  the  joy 
of  knowing  that  a  sinner  once  at  enmity  has  been  recon- 
ciled to  God  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  through  the  words 
spoken  by  our  feeble  lips.  Since  then,  by  grace  given 
to  me,  the  thought  of  which  prostrates  me  in  self- 
abasement,  I  have  seen  and  heard  of,  not  hundreds 
only,  but  even  thousands  of  sinners  turned  from  the 
error  of  their  ways  by  the  testimony  of  God  in  me.  Let 
alTflictions  come,  let  trials  be  multiplied  as  God  willeth, 
still  this  joy  preponderates  above  all  others,  the  joy 
that  we  are  unto  God  a  sweet  savour  of  Christ  in  every 
place,  and  that  as  often  as  we  preach  the  Word,  hearts 
are  unlocked,  bosoms  heave  with  a  new  life,  eyes  weep 
for  sin,  and  their  tears  are  wiped  aw^ay  as  they  see  the 
great  Substitute  for  sin,  and  live. 

Beyond  all  controversy,  it  is  a  joy  worth  worlds  to 
win  souls,  and,  thank  God,  it  is  a  joy  that  does  not 
cease  with  this  mortal  life.  It  must  be  no  small  bliss 
to  hear,  as  one  wings  his  flight  up  to  the  eternal  throne, 
the  wings  of  others  fluttering  at  one's  side  towards  the 
same  glory,  and  turning  round  and  questioning  them, 
to  hear  them  say,  "We  are  entering  with  you  through 
the  gates  of  pearl,  you  brought  us  to  the  Saviour," 
and  to  be  w^elcomed  to  the  skies  bv  those  who  call  us 


232  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

father  in  God — father  in  better  bonds  than  those  of 
earth,  father  through  grace  and  sire  for  immortaUty. 
it  will  be  bliss  beyond  compare,  to  meet  in  yon  eternal 
seats  with  those  begotton  of  us  in  Christ  Jesus,  for 
whom  we  travailed  in  birth,  till  Christ  was  formed  in 
them  the  hope  of  glory.  This  is  to  have  many  heavens 
— a  heaven  in  every  one  won  for  Christ,  according  to 
the  Master's  promise,  "they  that  turn  many  to  right- 
eousness shall  shine  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever." 

I  have  said  enough,  brethren,  I  trust,  to  make  some 
of  you  desire  to  occupy  the  position  of  soul-winners; 
but  before  I  further  address  myself  to  my  text,  I  should 
like  to  remind  you  that  the  honour  does  not  belong 
to  ministers  only;  they  may  take  their  full  share  of  it, 
but  it  belongs  to  every  one  of  you  who  have  devoted 
yourselves  to  Christ:  such  honour  have  all  the  saints. 
Every  man  here,  every  women  here,  every  child  here, 
whose  heart  is  right  with  God,  may  be  a  soul-winner. 
There  is  no  man  placed  by  God's  providence  where  he 
cannot  do  some  good.  There  is  not  a  glow-worm 
under  a  hedge  but  gives  a  needed  light;  and  there  is 
not  a  labouring  man,  a  suffering  woman,  a  servant- 
girl,  a  chimney-sweeper,  or  a  crossing-sweeper,  but 
has  some  opportunities  for  serving  God;  and  what  I 
have  said  of  soul-winners,  belongs  not  to  the  learned 
doctor  of  divinity,  or  to  the  eloquent  preacher  alone, 
but  to  you  all  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus.  You  can  each 
of  you,  if  grace  enables  you,  be  thus  wise,  and  win  the 
happiness  of  turning  souls  to  Christ  through  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

I  am  about  to  dwell  upon  my  text  in  this  way — 
*'He  that  winneth  souls  is  wise;"  I  shall,  first,  make 
that  fact  stand  out  a  little  clearer  by  explaini?ig  the 
metaphor  used  ift  the  text — winning  souls;  and  then, 
secondly;    by  giving  you  some  lessons  in  the  matter  of 


SOUL-WINNING  EXPLAINED.  233 

sou/-7ainning,  through  which  I  trust  the  conviction 
will  be  forced  upon  each  believing  mind  that  the  work 
needs  the  highest  wisdom. 

I.  First,  LET  US  CONSIDER  THE  META- 
PHOR USED  IX  THE  TEXT:  "He  that  winneth 
souls  is  wise." 

We  use  the  word  "win"  in  many  ways.  It  is  some- 
times found  in  very  bad  company,  in  those  games  of 
chance,  juggling  tricks  and  sleight-of-hand,  or  thimble- 
rigging (to  use  a  plain  word),  by  which  sharpers  are 
so  fond  of  winning.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  much  of 
legerdemain  and  trickery  are  to  be  met  with  in  the 
religious  world.  Why,  there  are  those  who  pretend  to 
save  souls  by  curious  tricks,  intricate  manoeuvres,  and 
dexterous  posture-making!  A  basin  of  water,  half-a- 
dozen  drops,  certain  syllables — heigh,  presto! — the  in- 
fant is  made  a  child  of  God,  a  member  of  Christ,  and 
an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven !  This  aqueous 
regeneration  surpasses  my  belief;  it  is  a  trick  which  I 
do  not  understand:  the  initiated  only  can  perform  the 
beautiful  piece  of  magic,  which  excels  anything  ever 
attempted  by  the  Wizard  of  the  North.  There  is  a 
way,  too,  of  winning  souls  by  laying  hands  upon  heads, 
only  the  elbows  of  the  aforesaid  hands  must  be  en- 
cased in  lawn,  and  then  the  machinery  acts,  and  there 
is  grace  conferred  by  blessed  fingers!  I  must  confess 
I  do  not  understand  the  occult  science,  but  at  this 
I  need  not  wonder,  for  the  profession  of  saving  souls 
by  such  juggling  can  only  be  carried  out  by  certain 
favoured  persons  who  have  received  apostolical  suc- 
cession direct  from  Judas  Iscariot.  This  episcopal 
confirmation,  when  men  pretend  that  it  confers  grace, 
is  an  infamous  piece  of  juggling.    The  whole  thing  is 


234  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

an  abomination.  Only  to  think  that,  in  this  nineteenth 
century,  there  should  be  men  who  preach  up  salva- 
tion by  sacraments,  and  salvation  by  themselves,  for- 
sooth! Why,  sirs,  it  is  surely  too  late  in  the  day  to 
come  to  us  with  this  drivel!  Priestcraft,  let  us  hope, 
is  an  anachronism,  and  the  sacramental  theory  out  of 
date.  These  things  might  have  done  for  those  who 
could  not  read,  and  in  the  days  when  books  were 
scarce ;  but  ever  since  the  day  when  the  glorious  Luther 
was  helped  by  God  to  proclaim  with  thunder-claps  the 
emancipating  truth,  *'By  grace  are  ye  saved  through 
faith;  and  that  not  of  yourselves:  it  is  the  gift  of 
God,"  there  has  been  too  much  light  for  these  Popish 
owls.  Let  them  go  back  to  their  ivy-mantled  towers, 
and  complain  to  the  moon  of  those  who  spoiled  of  old 
their  kingdom  of  darkness.  Let  shaven  crowns  go  to 
Bedlam  and  scarlet  hats  to  the  scarlet  harlot,  but  let 
not  Englishmen  yield  them  respect,  ^lodern  Tractar- 
ianism  is  a  bastard  Poper};,  too  mean,  too  shifty,  too 
double-dealing  to  delude  men  of  honest  minds.  If 
we  win  souls,  it  shall  be  by  other  arts  than  Jesuits  and 
shavelings  can  teach  us.  Trust  not  in  any  man  who 
pretends  to  priesthood.  Priests  are  liars  by  trade,  and 
deceivers  by  profession.  \\'e  cannot  save  souls  in  their 
theatrical  way.  and  do  not  want  to  do  so,  for  we  know 
that  with  such  juggler}^  as  that  Satan  will  hold  the  best 
hand,  and  laugh  at  priests  as  he  turns  the  cards  against 
them  at  the  last. 

How  do  we  win  souls,  then?  Why,  the  word  '*win" 
has  a  better  meaning  far.  It  is  used  in  warfare.  War- 
riors win  cities  and  provinces.  Now,  to  win  a  soul 
is  a  much  more  difficult  thing  than  to  win  a  city.  Ob- 
ser\^e  the  earnest  soul-winner  at  his  work;  how  cau- 
tiously he  seeks  his  great  Captain's  directions  to  know 
when  to  hang^  out  the  white  flag  to  invite  the  heart  to 


SOUL-WlNNlNG  EXPLAINED.  235 

surrender  to  the  sweet  love  of  a  dying  Saviour;  when, 
at  the  proper  time,  to  hang  out  the  black  flag  of  threat- 
ening, showing  that,  if  grace  be  not  received,  judg- 
ment will  surely  follow;  and  when  to  unfurl,  with  dread 
reluctance,  the  red  flag  of  the  terrors  of  God  against 
stubborn,  impenitent  souls.  The  soul-winner  has  to  sit 
down  before  a  soul  as  a  great  captain  before  a  walled 
town;  to  draw  his  lines  of  circumvallation,  to  cast  up 
his  entrenchments,  and  fix  his  batteries.  He  must  not 
advance  too  fast,  or  he  may  overdo  the  fighting;  he 
must  not  move  too  slowly,  or  he  may  seem  not  to  be  in 
earnest,  and  may  do  mischief.  Then  he  must  know 
which  gate  to  attack — how  to  plant  his  guns  at  Ear- 
gate,  and  how  to  discharge  them;  how,  sometimes,  to 
keep  the  batteries  going  day  and  night  with  red-hot 
shot,  if  perhaps  he  may  make  a  breach  in  the  walls;  at 
other  times,  to  lie  by  and  cease  firing,  and  then,  on  a 
sudden,  to  open  all  the  batteries  with  terrific  violence, 
if  peradventure  he  may  take  the  soul  by  surprise,  or  cast 
in  a  truth  when  it  was  not  expected,  to  burst  like  a 
shell  in  the  soul,  and  do  damage  to  the  dominions  of 
sin.  The  Christian  soldier  must  know  how  to  advance 
by  little  and  little — to  sap  that  prejudice,  to  undermine 
that  old  enmity,  to  blow  into  the  air  that  lust,  and  at 
the  last,  to  storm  the  citadel.  It  is  his  to  throw  the  scal- 
ing ladder  up,,  and  to  have  his  ears  gladdened  as  he 
hears  a  clicking  on  the  wall  of  the  heart,  telling  that  the 
scaling  ladder  has  grasped  and  has  gained  firm  hold: 
and  then,  with  his  sabre  between  his  teeth,  to  climb 
up,  spring  on  the  man.  slay  his  unbelief  in  the  name 
of  God,  capture  the  city,  run  up  the  blood-red  flag  of 
the  cross  of  Christ,  and  say,  "The  heart  is  won,  won 
for  Christ  at  last."  This  needs  a  warrior  well-trained, 
a  master  in  his  art.  After  many  days'  attack,  man\ 
weeks  of  waiting,  many  an  hour  of  storming  by  pray- 


236  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

er  and  battering  by  entreaty,  to  carry  the  Malakoff  of 
depravity,  this  is  the  work,  this  is  the  difficulty.  It 
takes  no  fool  to  do  this.  God's  grace  must  make  a  man 
wise  thus  to  capture  Mansoul,  to  lead  its  captivity, 
captive,  and  open  wide  the  heart's  gates  that  the  Prince 
Immanuel  may  come  in.    This  is  winning  a  soul. 

The  word  "win"  was  commonly  used  among  the 
ancients,  to  signify  winning  in  the  wrestling  ?naich. 
When  the  Greek  sought  to  win  the  laurel,  or  the  ivy 
crown,  he  was  compelled  a  long  time  before  to  put 
himself  through  a  course  of  training;  and  when  he 
came  forth  at  last  stripped  for  the  encounter,  he  had 
no  sooner  exercised  himself  in  the  first  few  efforts 
than  you  saw  how  every  muscle  and  every  nerve  had 
been  developed  in  him.  He  had  a  stern  opponent,  and 
he  knew  it,  and  therefore  left  none  of  his  energy  un- 
used. While  the  wrestling  was  going  on,  you  could  see 
the  man's  eye,  how  he  watched  every  motion,  every 
feint  of  his  antagonist,  and  how  his  hand,  his  foot,  and 
his  whole  body  were  thrown  into  the  encounter.  He 
feared  to  meet  with  a  fall:  he  hoped  to  give  one  to  his 
foe.  Now,  a  true  soul-winner  has  often  to  come  to 
close  quarters  with  the  devil  within  men.  He  has  to 
struggle  with  their  prejudice,  with  their  love  of  sin, 
with  their  unbelief,  with  their  pride,  and  then  again, 
all  of  a  sudden,  to  grapple  with  their  despair;  at  one 
moment  he  strives  with  their  self-righteousness,  at  the 
next  moment  with  their  unbelief  in  God.  Ten  thou- 
sand arts  are  used  to  prevent  the  soul-winner  from  be- 
ing conqueror  in  the  encounter;  but  if  God  has  sent 
him,  he  will  never  renounce  his  hold  of  the  soul  he 
seeks  till  he  has  given  a  throw  to  the  power  of  sin,  and 
won  another  soul  for  Christ. 

Besides  that,  there  is  another  meaning  to  the  word 
"win"  upon  which  I  cannot  expatiate  here.     We  use 


SOUL-WINNING  EXPLAINED.  237 

the  word,  you  know,  in  a  softer  sense  than  these  which 
have  been  mentioned,  when  we  come  to  deal  with 
hearts.  There  are  secret  and  mysterious  ways  by  which 
those  who  love  win  the  object  of  their  affection,  whicli 
are  wise  in  their  fitness  to  the  purpose.  I  cannot  tell 
you  how  the  lover  wins  his  fond  one,  but  experience 
has  probably  taught  you.  The  weapon  of  this  warfare 
is  not  always  the  same,  yet  where  that  victory  is  won 
the  wisdom  of  the  means  becomes  clear  to  every  eye. 
The  weapon  of  love  is  sometimes  a  look,  or  a  soft 
word  whispered  and  eagerly  listened  to;  sometimes  it 
is  a  tear;  but  this  I  know,  that  we  have,  most  of  us 
in  our  turn,  cast  around  another  heart  a  chain  which 
that  other  would  not  care  to  break,  and  which  has 
linked  us  twain  in  a  blessed  captivity  which  has  cheered 
our  life.  Yes,  and  that  is  very  nearly  the  way  in  which 
we  have  to  save  souls.  That  illustration  is  nearer  the 
mark  than  any  of  the  others.  Love  is  the  true  way 
of  soul-winning,  for  when  I  spoke  of  storming  the 
walls,  and  when  I  spoke  of  wrestling,  those  were  but 
metaphors,  but  this  is  near  the  tact.  We  win  by  love. 
We  win  hearts  for  Jesus  by  love,  by  sympathy  with  their 
sorrow,  by  anxiety  lest  they  should  perish,  by  plead- 
ing with  God  for  them  with  all  our  hearts  that  they 
should  not  be  left  to  die  unsaved,  by  pleading  with 
them  for  God  that,  for  tlieir  own  sake,  they  would  seek 
mercy  and  find  grace.  Yes,  sirs,  there  is  a  spiritual 
wooing  and  wining  of  hearts  for  the  Lord  Jesus;  and 
if  you  would  learn  the  way,  you  must  ask  God  to  give 
you  a  tender  heart  and  sympathising  soul.  I  believe 
that  much  of  the  secret  of  soul-winning  lies  in  having 
bowels  of  compassion,  in  having  spirits  that  can  be 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  human  infirmities.  Carve 
a  preacher  out  of  granite,  and  even  if  you  give  him 
an  angel's  tongue,  he  will  convert  nobody.     Put  him 


238  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

into  the  most  fashionable  pulpit,  make  his  elocution 
faultless,  and  his  matter  profoundly  orthodox,  but  so 
long  as  he  bears  within  his  bosom  a  hard  heart  he  can 
never  win  a  soul.  Soul-saving  requires  a  heart  that 
beats  hard  against  the  ribs.  It  requires  a  soul  full  of  the 
miik  of  human  kindness;  this  is  the  sine  ijua  71071  of 
success.  This  is  the  chief  natural  qualification  for  a 
soul-winner,  which,  under  God,  and  blessed  of  Him, 
will  accomplish  wonders. 

I  have  not  looked  at  the  Hebrew  of  the  text,  but  I 
find — and  you  who  have  marginal  references  to  your 
Bibles  will  find — that  it  is,  "He  that  /^^^M  souls  is 
wise,"  which  word  refers  to  fishing,  or  to  bird-catching. 
Every  Sunday,  when  I  leave  my  house,  as  I  come 
along,  I  cannot  help  seeing  men,  with  their  cages  and 
their  captive  birds,  tr^-ing  all  around  the  common,  and 
in  the  fields,  to  catch  poor  little  warblers.  They  under- 
stand the  method  of  alluring  and  entrapping  their  vic- 
tims. Soul-winners  might  learn  much  from  them.  We 
must  have  our  lures  for  souls,  adapted  to  attract,  to  fas- 
cinate, to  grasp.  We  must  go  forth  with  our  bird-lime, 
our  decoys,  our  nets,  our  baits,  so  that  we  may  but 
catch  the  souls  of  men.  Their  enemy  is  a  fowler  pos- 
sessed of  the  basest  and  most  astounding  cunning; 
we  must  outwit  him  with  the  guile  of  honesty,  the  craft 
of  grace.  But  the  art  is  to  be  learned  only  by  divine 
teaching,  and  herein  we  must  be  wise  and  willing  to 
learn. 

The  man  who  takes  fish  must  also  have  some  art 
in  him.  Washington  Irving,  I  think  it  is,  tells  us  of 
some  three  gentlemen  who  had  read  in  Izaak  Walton 
all  about  the  delights  of  fishing.  So  they  must  needs 
enter  upon  the  same  amusement,  and  accordingly  they 
became  disciples  of  the  gentle  art.  They  went  into  New 
York  and  bought  the  best  rods  and  lines  that  could  be 


SOUL-WINNING  EXPLAINED.  239 

purchased,  and  they  found  out  the  exact  fly  for  the  par- 
ticular day  or  month,  so  that  the  fish  might  bite  at 
once,  and,  as  it  were,  fly  into  the  basket  with  alacrity. 
They  fished,  and  fished,  and  fished  the  live-long  day; 
but  the  basket  was  empty.  They  were  getting  disgusted 
with  a  sport  that  had  no  sport  in  it,  when  a  ragged  boy 
came  down  from  tlie  hills,  without  shoes  or  stockings, 
and  humiliated  them  to  the  last  degree.  He  had  a  bit 
of  a  bough  pulled  of?  a  tree,  and  a  piece  of  string,  and 
a  bent  pin ;  he  put  a  worm  on  it,  threw  it  in,  and  out 
came  a  fish  directly,  as  if  it  were  a  needle  drawn  to  a 
magnet.  In  again  went  the  line,  and  out  came  an- 
other fish,  and  so  on,  till  his  'basket  was  quite  full. 
They  asked  him  how  he  did  it.  Ah!  he  said,  he  could 
not  tell  them  that,  but  it  w-as  easy  enough  when  you 
had  the  way  of  it. 

Much  the  same  is  it  in  fishing  for  men.  Some 
preachers  who  have  silk  lines  and  fine  rods,  preach 
very  eloquently  and  exceedingly  gracefully,  but  they 
never  win  souls.  I  know  not  how  it  is,  but  another 
man  comes,  with  ver>'  simple  language,  but  with  a 
warm  heart,  and,  straightway,  men  are  converted  to 
God.  Surely  there  must  be  a  sympathy  between  the 
minister  and  the  souls  he  would  win.  God  gives  to 
those  whom  He  makes  soul-winners  a  natural  love  to 
their  work  and  a  spiritual  fitness  for  it.  There  is  a  sym- 
pathy between  those  who  are  to  be  blessed  and  those 
who  are  to  be  the  means  of  blessing,  and  very  much 
by  this  sympathy,  under  God,  souls  are  taken;  but 
it  is  as  clear  as  noonday  that,  to  be  a  fisher  of  men  a 
man  must  be  wise,    "He  that  winneth  souls  is  wise." 

n.  And  now,  brethren  and  sisters,  you  who  are 
engaged  in  the  Lord's  work  from  week  to  week,  and 
who  seek  to  win  men's  souls  to  Christ.  I  am.  in  the 
second  place,  to  illustrate  this  by  telling  you  of 


240  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

SOME  OF  THE  WAYS  BY  WHICH  SOULS 
ARE  TO  BE  WON. 

The  preacher  himself  wins  souls  best,  I  believe,  when 
he  believes  in  the  reality  of  his  work — when  he  believes 
in  instantaneous  conversions.  How  can  he  expect  God 
to  do  what  he  does  not  believe  God  will  do?  He  suc- 
ceeds best  who  expects  conversion  every  time  he 
preaches.  According  to  his  faith  so  shall  it  be  done 
unto  him.  To  be  content  without  conversions,  is  the 
surest  way  never  to  have  them ;  to  drive  with  a  single 
aim  entirely  at  the  saving  of  souls,  is  the  surest  method 
of  usefulness.  If  we  sigh  and  cry  till  men  are  saved, 
saved  they  will  be. 

He  will  succeed  best  who  keeps  closest  to  soul- saving 
truth.  Now,  all  truth  is  not  soul-saving,  though  all 
truth  may  be  edifying.  He  that  keeps  to  the  simple 
story  of  the  cross,  tells  men  over  and  over  again  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  Christ  is  not  condemned,  that 
to  be  saved,  nothing  is  wanted  but  a  simple  trust  in 
the  crucified  Redeemer;  he  whose  ministry  is  much 
made  up  of  the  glorious  story  of  the  cross,  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  dying  Lamb,  the  mercy  of  God,  the  will- 
ingness of  the  great  Father  to  receive  returning  prodi- 
gals; he  who  cries,  in  fact,  from  day  to  day,  ''Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world,"  he  is  likely  to  be  a  soul-winner,  especially  if 
he  adds  to  this  much  prayer  for  souls,  much  anxious 
desire  that  men  may  be  brought  to  Jesus,  and  then  in 
his  private  life  seeks  as  much  as  in  his  public  minis- 
try to  be  telling  out  to  others  of  the  love  of  the  dear 
Saviour  of  men. 

But  I  am  not  talking  to  ministers,  but  to  you  who 
sit  in  the  pew,  and  therefore  to  you  let  me  turn  myself 
more  directly.  Brothers  and  sisters,  you  have  different 


SOUL-WINNING  EXPLAINED.  241 

gifts.  1  hope  you  use  them  ah.  Perhaps  some  of  you. 
though  members  of  the  church,  think  you  have  none; 
but  every  believer  has  his  gift,  and  his  portion  of  work. 
What  can  you  do  to  win  souls? 

Let  me  recommend  to  those  who  think  they  can  do 
nothing,  the  brhiging  of  others  to  hear  the  lVor(f. 
That  is  a  duty  much  neglected.  I  can  hardly  ask  you 
to  bring  anybody  here,  but  many  of  you  attend  other 
places  which  are  not  perhaps  half  filled.  Fill  them. 
Do  not  grumble  at  the  small  congregation,  but  make 
it  larger.  Take  somebody  with  you  to  the  very  next 
sermon,  and  at  once  the  congregation  will  be  increased. 
Go  up  with  the  prayer  that  your  minister's  sermon 
may  be  blessed,  and  if  you  cannot  yourselves  preach, 
yet,  by  bringing  others  under  the  sound  of  the  Word, 
you  may  be  doing  what  is  next  best.  This  is  a  very 
common-place  and  simple  remark,  but  let  me  press  it 
upon  you,  for  it  is  of  great  practical  value.  Many 
churches  and  chapels,  which  are  almost  empty,  might 
soon  have  large  audiences  if  those  who  profit  by  the 
Word  would  tell  others  about  the  blessing  they  have 
received,  and  induce  them  to  attend  the  same  ministry. 
Especially  in  this  London  of  ours,  where  so  many 
will  not  go  up  to  the  house  of  God,  persuade  your 
neighbours  to  come  forth  to  the  place  of  worship; 
look  after  them,  make  them  feel  that  it  is  a  wrong 
thing  to  stop  at  home  on  the  Sunday  from  morning 
till  night.  I  do  not  say  upbraid  them,  that  does  little 
good ;  but  I  do  say  entice  them,  persuade  them.  Let 
them  have  your  tickets  for  the  Tabernacle,  for  instance, 
sometimes,  or  stand  in  the  aisles  yourself,  and  let  them 
have  your  seat.  Get  them  under  the  Word,  and  who 
knoweth  what  may  be  the  result?  Oh,  what  a  bless- 
ing it  would  be  to  you  if  you  heard  that  what  you 
could  not  do — for  you  could  scarcely  speak  for  Christ 


242  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

— was  done  by  your  pastor,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  through  your  inducing  one  to  come  within  gun- 
shot of  the  gospel ! 

Next  to  that,  soul-winners,  try  after  sermon  to  talk 
to  strangers.  The  preacher  may. have  missed  the  mark, 
but  you  need  not  miss  it;  or  the  preacher  may  have 
struck  the  mark,  and  you  can  help  to  make  the  im- 
pression deeper  by  a  kind  word.  I  recollect  several 
persons  joining  the  church  who  traced  their  conver- 
sion to  the  ministry  in  the  Surrey  Music  Hall,  but  who 
said  it  was  not  that  alone,  but  another  agency  co-oper- 
ating therewith.  They  were  fresh  from  the  country, 
and  some  good  man — I  knew  him  well,  I  think  he  is  irl 
heaven  now — met  them  at  the  gate,  spoke  to  them,  said 
he  hoped  they  had  enjoyed  what  they  had  heard,  heard 
their  answer,  asked  them  if  they  were  coming  in  the 
evening,  said  he  would  be  glad  if  they  would  drop  into 
his  house  to  tea;  they  did,  and  he  had  a  word  with 
them  about  the  Master.  The  next  Sunday  it  was  the 
same,  and  at  last,  those  whom  the  sermons  had  not 
much  impressed,  were  brought  to  hear  with  other  ears, 
till  by-and-by,  through  the  good  old  man's  persuasive 
words,  and  the  good  Lord's  gracious  work,  they  were 
converted  to  God.  There  is  a  fine  hunting  ground  here, 
and  indeed  in  every  large  congregation,  for  you  who 
really  want  to  do  good.  How  many  come  into  this 
house  every  morning  and  evening  with  no  thought 
about  receiving  Christ!  Oh,  if  you  would  all  help  me, 
you  who  love  the  Master,  if  you  would  all  help  me 
by  speaking  to  your  neighbours  who  sit  near  to  you, 
how  much  might  be  accomplished!  Never  let  any- 
body say,  "I  came  to  the  Tabernacle  three  months, 
and  nobody  spoke  to  me;"  but  do,  by  a  sweet  famil- 
iarity, which  ought  always  to  be  allowable  in  the  house 
of  God,  seek  with  your  whole  heart  to  impress  upon 


SOUL-WINNING  EXPLAINED.  243 

your  friends  the  truth  which  I  can  only  put  into  the 
ear,  but  which  God  may  help  you  to  put  into  the  heart. 
Further,  let  me  commend  to  you,  dear  friends;  the 
art  of  button-holing  acquaintances  and  relatives.  If 
you  cannot  preach  to  a  hundred,  preach  to  one.  Get 
a  hold  of  the  man  alone,  and  in  love,  quietly  and  pray- 
erfully, talk  to  him.  "One!"  say  you.  Well,  is  not 
one  enough?  I  know  your  ambition,  young  man;  you 
want  to  preach  here,  to  these  thousands;  be  content, 
and  begin  with  the  ones.  Your  Master  was  not 
ashamed  to  sit  on  the  well  and  preach  to  one;  and 
when  He  had  finished  His  sermon.  He  had  really  done 
good  work  to  the  whole  city  of  Sychar,  for  that  one 
woman  became  a  missionary  to  her  friends.  Timidity 
often  prevents  our  being  useful  in  this  direction,  but 
we  must  not  give  way  to  it;  it  must  not  be  tolerated 
that  Christ  should  be  unknown  through  our  silence,  and 
sinners  unwarned  through  our  negligence.  We  must 
school  and  train  ourselves  to  deal  personally  with  the 
unconverted.  We  must  not  excuse  ourselves,  but  force 
ourselves  to  the  irksome  task  till  it  becomes  easy.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  honourable  modes  of  soul-winning; 
and  if  it  requires  more  than  ordinary  zeal  and  courage, 
so  much  the  more  reason  for  our  resolving  to  master 
it.  Beloved,  we  must  win  souls,  we  cannot  live  and 
see  men  damned;  we  must  have  them  brought  to  Jesus. 
Oh !  then,  be  up  and  doing,  and  let  none  around  you  die 
unwarned,  unwept,  uncared-for.  A  tract  is  a  useful 
thing,  but  a  living  word  is  better.  Your  eye,  and  face, 
and  voice  will  all  help.  Do  not  be  so  cowardly  as  to 
give  a  piece  of  paper  where  your  own  speech  would 
be  so  much  better.  I  charge  you,  attend  to  this,  for 
Jesus'  sake. 

Some  of  you  could  write  letters  for  your  Lord  and 
Master.    To  far-ofif  friends,  a  few  loving  lines  may  be 


244  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

iiKJst  influential  for  good.  Be  like  the  men  of  Issa- 
char,  who  handled  the  pen.  Paper  and  ink  are  never 
better  used  than  in  soul-winning.  Much  has  been  done 
by  this  method.  Could  not  you  do  it?  Will  you  not 
try?  Some  of  you,  at  any  rate,  if  you  could  not  speak 
or  write  much,  .could  live  much.  That  is  a  fine  way 
of  preaching,  that  of  preaching  with  your  feet — I  mean 
preaching  by  your  life,  and  conduct,  and  conversation. 
That  loving  wife,  who  weeps  in  secret  over  an  infidel 
husband,  but  is  always  so  kind  to  him ;  that  dear  child, 
whose  heart  is  broken  by  his  father's  blasphemy,  but 
is  so  much  more  obedient  than  he  used  to  be  before 
conversion;  that  servant,  at  whom  the  master  swears, 
but  whom  he  could  trust  with  his  purse,  and  the  gold 
uncounted  in  it;  that  man  in  trade,  who  is  sneered  at 
as  a  Presbyterian,  but  who,  nevertheless,  is  straight  as 
a  line,  and  would  not  be  compelled  to  do  a  dirty  action, 
no,  not  for  all  the  mint;  these  are  the  men  and  women 
who  preach  the  best  sermons;  these  are  your  practi- 
cal preachers.  Give  us  your  holy  living,  and  with  your 
holy  living  as  the  leverage,  we  will  move  the  world. 
Under  God's  blessing,  we  will  find  tongues  if  we  can, 
but  we  greatly  need  the  lives  of  our  people  to  illus- 
trate what  our  tongues  have  to  say.  The  gospel  is 
something  like  an  illustrated  paper.  The  preacher's 
words  are  the  letterpress,  but  the  pictures  are  the  liv- 
ing men  and  women  who  form  our  churches;  and 
as  when  people  take  up  such  a  newspaper,  they  very 
often  do  not  read  the  letterpress,  but  they  always  look 
at  the  pictures,  so  in  a  church,  outsiders  may  not  come 
to  hear  the  preacher,  but  they  always  consider,  observe 
and  criticise  the  lives  of  the  members.  If  you  would  be 
soul-winners,  then,  dear  brethren  and  sisters,  see  that 
you  live  the  gospel.  I  have  no  greater  joy  than  this, 
that  mv  children  walk  in  the  truth. 


SOL'L-WINNING  EXPLAINED.  245 

One  thing  more,  the  soul-winner  must  be  a  master  of 
the  art  of  prayer.  You  cannot  bring  souls  to  God  if 
you  go  not  to  God  yourself.  You  must  get  your  bat- 
tle-axe, and  your  weapons  of  war,  from  the  armoury 
of  sacred  communication  with  Christ.  If  you  are  mucli 
alone  with  Jesus,  you  will  catch  His  Spirit;  you  will 
be  fired  with  the  flame  that  burned  in  His  breast,  and 
consumed  His  life.  You  will  weep  with  the  tears  that 
fell  upon  Jerusalem  when  He  saw  it  perishing;  and 
if  you  cannot  speak  so  eloquently  as  He  did,  yet  shall 
there  be  about  what  you  say  somewhat  of  the  same 
power  which  in  Him  thrilled  the  hearts  and  awoke  the 
consciences  of  men.  My  dear  hearers,  especially  you 
members  of  the  church,  I  am  always  so  anxious  lest 
any  of  you  should  begin  to  lie  upon  your  oars,  and 
take  things  easy  in  the  matters  of  God's  kingdom. 
There  are  some  of  you — I  bless  you,  and  I  bless  God 
at  the  remembrance  of  you — who  are  in  season,  and 
out  of  season,  in  earnest  for  winning  souls,  and  you 
are  the  truly  wise;  but  I  fear  there  are  others  whose 
hands  are  slack,  who  are  satisfied  to  let  me  preach,  but 
do  not  themselves  preach;  who  take  these  seats,  and 
occupy  these  pews,  and  hope  the  cause  goes  well,  but 
that  is  all  they  do.  Oh,  do  let  me  see  you  all  in  earn- 
est! A  great  host  of  nearly  five  thousand  members, 
what  ought  we  not  to  do  if  we  are  all  alive,  and  all 
in  earnest?  But  such  a  host,  without  the  spirit  of  en- 
thusiasm, becomes  a  mere  mob,  an  unwieldy  mass,  out 
of  which  mischief  grows,  and  no  good  results  arise. 
If  you  were  all  firebrands  for  Chnst,  you  might  set  the 
nation  on  a  blaze.  If  you  were  all  wells  of  living  water, 
how  many  thirsty  souls  might  drink  and  be  refreshed! 

Beloved,  there  is  one  question  I  will  ask,  and  I  have 
done,  and  that  is,  Are  your  own  souls  won?  You  can- 
not win  others  else.    Are  you  yourselves  saved?    My 


246  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

hearers,  every  one  of  you,  under  that  gallery  there,  and 
you  behind  here,  are  you  yourselves  saved?  What  if 
this  night  you  should  have  to  answer  that  question 
to  another  and  greater  than  I  am?  What  if  the  bony 
finger  of  the  last  great  orator  should  be  uplifted  in- 
stead of  mine?  What  if  his  unconquerable  eloquence 
should  turn  those  bones  to  stone,  and  glaze  those  eyes, 
and  make  the  blood  chill  in  your  veins?  Could  you 
hope,  in  your  last  extremity,  that  you  were  saved?  If 
not  saved,  how  will  you  ever  be?  When  will  you  be 
saved  if  not  now?  Will  any  time  be  better  than  now? 
The  way  to  be  saved  is  simply  to  trust  in  what  the  Son 
of  man  did  when  He  became  man,  and  suffered  pun- 
ishment for  all  those  who  trust  Him.  For  all  His  peo- 
ple, Christ  was  a  Substitute.  His  people  are  those  who 
trust  Him.  If  you  trust  Him,  He  was  punished  for 
your  sins;  and  you  cannot  be  punished  for  them,  for 
God  cannot  punish  sin  twice,  first  in  Christ,  and  then 
in  you.  If  you  trust  Jesus,  who  now  liveth  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,  you  are  this  moment  pardoned,  and  you 
shall  for  ever  be  saved.  Oh,  that  you  would  trust  Him 
now!  Perhaps  it  may  be  now  or  never  with  you.  May 
it  be  now,  even  now,  and  then,  trusting  in  Jesus,  dear 
friends,  you  will  have  no  need  to  hesitate  when  the 
question  is  asked,  "Are  you  saved?''  for  you  can  an- 
swer, "Ay,  that  I  am,  for  it  is  written,  'He  that  be- 
lieveth  in  Him  is  not  condemned.' "  Trust  Him,  then, 
trust  Him  now;  and  then  God  help  you  to  be  a  soul- 
winner,  and  you  shall  be  wise,  and  God  shall  be  glori- 
fied! 


SOUL-SAVING  OUR  ONE  BUSINESS. 


'I  am  made  all  things  to  all  men,,  that  I  might  by  all  means 
save  some." — I  Corinthians  ix.  22. 


SOUL-SAVING  OUR  ONE  BUS- 
INESS. 


It  is  a  grand  thing  to  sec  a  man  thoroughly  pos- 
sessed with  one  master-passion.  Such  a  man  is  sure 
to  be  strong,  and  if  the  master-principle  be  excellent, 
he  is  sure  to  be  excellent,  too.  The  man  of  one  object 
is  a  man  indeed.  Lives  with  many  aims  are  like  watei' 
trickling  through  innumerable  streams,  none  of  which 
are  wide  enough  or  deep  enough  to  float  the  merest 
cockleshell  of  a  boat;  but  a  life  with  one  object  is  like 
a  mighty  river  flowing  between  its  banks,  bearing  to 
the  ocean  a  multitude  of  ships,  and  spreading  fertility 
on  either  side.  Give  me  a  man  not  only  with  a  great 
object  in  his  soul,  but  thoroughly  possessed  by  it,  his 
powers  all  concentrated,  and  himself  on  fire  with  vehe- 
ment zeal  for  his  supreme  object,  and  you  have  put 
before  me  one  of  the  greatest  sources  of  power  wliich 
the  world  can  produce.  Give  me  a  man  engrossed  with 
holy  love  as  to  his  heart,  and  filled  with  some  master- 
ly celestial  thought  as  to  his  brain,  and  such  a  man 
will  be  known  wherever  his  lot  may  be  cast,  and  I 
venture  to  prophesy  that  his  name  will  be  remembered 
long  after  the  place  of  his  sepulchre  shall  be  forgotten. 

Such  a  man  was  Paul.  I  am  not  about  to  set  him 
upon  a  pedestal,  that  you  may  look  at  him  and  wonder, 
much  less  that  you  may  kneel  down  and  worship  him 
as  a  saint.  I  mention  Paul,  because  what  he  was  we 
ought  every  one  of  us  to  be;   and  though  we  cannot 


250  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

share  in  his  office,  not  being  apostles ;  though  we  can- 
not share  in  his  talents  or  in  his  inspiration,  yet  we 
ought  to  be  possessed  by  the  same  spirit  which  actu- 
ated him,  and  let  me  also  add  we  ought  to  be  pos- 
sessed by  it  in  the  same  degree.  Do  you  demur  to 
that?  I  ask  you  what  there  was  in  Paul,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  which  may  not  be  in  you,  and  what  had  Jesus 
done  for  Paul  more  than  for  you?  He  was  divinely 
changed;  and  so  have  you  been  if  you  have  passed 
from  darkness  into  marvellous  light.  He  had  much 
forgiven;  and  so  have  you  also  been  freely  pardoned. 
He  was  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God;  and 
so  have  you  been — at  least,  so  you  profess  to  have 
been.  He  was  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  so  are 
you,  if  you  are  truly  such  as  your  Christian  profession 
makes  you  out  to  be.  Owing,  then,  your  salvation  to 
Christ,  being  debtors  to  the  precious  blood  of  Jesus, 
and  being  quickened  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  I  ask  you  why 
there  should  not  be  the  same  fruit  from  the  same  sow- 
ing? Why  not  the  same  efifect  from  the  same  cause? 
Do  not  tell  me  that  the  apostle  was  an  exception,  and 
cannot  be  set  up  as  a  rule  or  model  for  commoner  folk, 
for  I  shall  have  to  tell  you  that  we  must  be  such  as 
Paul  was  if  we  hope  to  be  where  Paul  is.  Paul  did  not 
think  that  he  had  attained,  neither  that  he  was  already 
perfect.  Shall  we  think  him  to  be  so — so  think  him 
to  be  so  as  to  regard  him  as  inimitable,  and  so  be 
content  to  fall  short  of  what  he  was?  Nay,  verily,  but 
let  it  be  our  incessant  prayer,  as  believers  in  Christ, 
that  we  may  be  followers  of  him  so  far  as  he  followed 
Christ,  and  wherein  he  failed  to  set  his  feet  in  his  Lord's 
footprints  may  we  even  outstrip  him,  and  be  more  zeal- 
ous, more  devoted  to  Christ  than  even  the  apostle  of 
the  Gentiles  was.  Oh,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  would  bring 
us  to  be  like  our  Lord  Jesus  Himself! 


SOUL-SAVING   OUR   ONE   BUSINESS.  251 

At  this  time,  I  shall  have  to  speak  to  you  upon 
VdiuVs  great  odjcif  in  life;  he  tells  us  it  was  to  *'save 
some";  we  will  then  look  into  Paul's  heart  and  show 
you  a  few  of  the  great  reasons  which  made  him  think  it 
so  important  that  some  at  least  should  be  saved;  then, 
thirdly,  we  will  indicate  certain  of  the  means  7uhich 
the  apostle  used  to  that  end;  and  all  with  this  view,  that 
you,  my  dear  hearers,  may  seek  to  "save  some;"  that 
you  may  seek  this  because  of  potent  reasons  which 
you  cannot  withstand,  and  that  you  may  seek  it  with 
wise  methods  such  as  shall  in  the  end  succeed. 

I.  First,  then,  brethren,  WHAT  WAS  PAUL'S 
GREAT  OBJECT  IN  HIS  DAILY  LIFE  AXD 
MINISTRY?     He  says  it  was,  to  save  some. 

There  are  ministers  of  Christ  present  at  this  hour, 
together  with  City  missionaries,  Bible-women,  Sunday- 
school  teachers,  and  other  workers  in  my  Master's 
vineyard,  and  I  make  bold  to  enquire  of  each  one  of 
them — Is  this  your  object  in  all  your  Christian  service? 
Do  you  above  all  things  aim  at  saving  souls?  I  am 
afraid  that  some  have  forgotten  this  grand  object; 
but,  dear  friends,  anything  short  of  this  is  unworthy 
to  be  the  great  end  of  a  Christian's  life.  I  fear  there 
are  some  who  preach  with  the  view  of  amusing  men; 
and  as  long  as  people  can  be  gathered  in  crowds,  and 
their  ears  can  be  tickled,  and  they  can  retire  pleased 
with  what  they  have  heard,  the  orator  is  content,  and 
folds  his  hands  and  goes  back  self-satisfied.  But  Paul 
did  not  lay  himself  out  to  please  the  public,  and  col- 
lect the  crowd.  If  he  did  not  save  them,  he  felt  that 
it  was  of  no  avail  to  interest  them.  Unless  the  truth 
had  pierced  their  hearts,  affected  their  lives,  and  made 
new  men  of  them,  Paul  would  have  gone  home  crying, 
"Who  hath  believed  our  report,  and  to  whom  is  the 
arm  of  the  Lord  revealed?" 


V 


252  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

It  seems  to  be  the  opinion  of  a  large  party  in  the 
present  day  that  the  object  of  Christian  efifort  should 
be  to  educate  men.  I  grant  you  that  education  is  in 
itself  an  exceedingly  valuable  thing,  so  valuable  that  I 
am  sure  the  whole  Christian  Church  rejoices  greatly 
that  at  last  we  have  a  national  system  of  education, 
which  only  needs  to  be  carefully  carried  out  and  every 
child  in  this  land  will  have  the  keys  of  knowledge  in 
his  hand.  Whatever  other  price  others  may  set  upon 
ignorance,  we  are  promoters  of  knowledge,  and  the 
more  it  can  be  spread  the  better  shall  we  be  pleased. 
But  if  the  Church  of  God  thinks  that  it  is  sent  into  the 
world  merely  to  train  the  mental  faculties,  it  has  made 
a  very  serious  mistake,  for  the  object  of  Christianity 
is  not  to  educate  men  for  their  secular  callings,  or  even 
to  train  them  in  the  politer  arts,  or  the  more  elegant 
professions,  or  to  enable  them  to  enjoy  the  beauties  of 
nature  or  the  charms  of  poetry.  Jesus  Christ  came 
not  into  the  world  for  any  of  these  things,  but  He 
came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost;  and  on 
the  same  errand  has  He  sent  His  Church,  and  she  is 
a  traitor  to  the  Master  who  sent  her  if  she  is  beguiled 
by  the  beauties  of  taste  and  art  to  forget  that  to  preach 
Christ  and  Him  crucified  is  the  only  object  for  which 
she  exists  among  the  sons  of  men.  The  business  of 
the  church  is  salvation.  The  minister  is  to  use  all  means 
to  save  some ;  he  is  no  minister  of  Christ  if  this  be  not 
the  one  desire  of  his  heart.  Missionaries  sink  far  be- 
low their  level  when  they  are  content  to  civilize ;  their 
first  object  is  to  save.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Sunday- 
school  teacher,  and  of  all  other  workers  among  chil- 
dren ;  if  they  have  merely  taught  the  child  to  read,  to 
repeat  hymns,  and  so  forth,  they  have  not  yet  touched 
their  true  vocation.  We  must  have  the  children  saved. 
At  this  nail  we  must  drive,  and  the  hammer  must  come 


SOUL-SAVING   OUR   ONE   BUSINESS.  253 

down  upon  this  head  always — that  we  might  by  all 
means  save  some,  for  we  have  done  nothing  unless 
some  are  saved. 

Paul  does  not  even  say  that  he  tried  to  moralize 
men.  The  best  promoter  of  morality  is  the  gospel. 
When  a  man  is  saved,  he  becomes  moral;  he  becomes 
more,  he  becomes  holy.  But  to  aim  first  at  morality 
is  altogether  to  miss  the  mark ;  and  if  we  did  attain  it — 
as  we  shall  not — yet  we  should  not  have  attained  that 
for  which  we  were  sent  into  the  world.  Dr.  Chalmers' 
experience  is  a  very  valuable  one  to  those  who  think 
that  the  Christian  ministry  ought  to  preach  up  mere 
morality,  for  he  says  that  in  his  first  parish  he 
preached  morality,  and  saw  no  good  whatever  arising 
out  of  his  exhortations.  But,  as  soon  as  he  began  to 
preach  Christ  crucified,  then  there  was  a  buzz,  and  a 
stir,  and  much  opposition,  but  grace  prevailed.  He 
who  wishes  for  perfumes  must  grow  the  flowers;  he 
who  desires  to  promote  morality  must  have  men  saved. 
He  who  wants  motion  in  a  corpse  should  first  seek 
life  for  it,  and  he  who  desires  to  see  a  rightly-ordered 
life  should  first  desire  an  inward  renewal  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  We  are  not  to  be  satisfied  when  we  have  taught 
men  their  duties  towards  their  neighbours,  or  even 
their  duties  towards  God ;  this  would  suffice  for  Moses, 
but  not  for  Christ.  The  law  came  by  Moses,  but  grace 
and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ.  We  teach  men  what 
they  ought  to  be,  but  we  do  far  more;  by  the  power 
of  the  gospel,  applied  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  make 
them  what  they  ought  to  be  by  the  power  of  God's 
Spirit.  We  put  not  before  the  blind  the  things  that 
they  ought  to  see,  but  w^e  open  their  eyes  in  the  name 
of  Jesus.  We  tell  not  the  captive  how  free  he  ought 
to  be,  but  we  open  the  door  and  take  away  his 
fetters.      We  are  not  content  to  tell  men  what  they 


254  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

must  be,  but  we  show  them  how  this  character  can  be 
obtained,  and  how  Jesus  Christ  freely  presents  all  that 
is  essential  to  eternal  life  to  all  those  who  come  and  put 
their  trust  in  Him. 

Now  observe,  brethren,  if  I,  or  you,  or  any  of  us, 
or  all  of  us,  shall  have  spent  our  lives  merely  in  amus- 
ing men,  or  educating  men,  or  moralizing  men,  when 
we  shall  come  to  give  in  our  account  at  the  last  great 
day,  we  shall  be  in  a  very  sorry  condition,  and  we  shall 
have  but  a  very  sorry  record  to  render;  for  of  what 
avail  will  it  be  to  a  man  to  be  educated  when  he  comes 
to  be  damned?  Of  what  service  will  it  be  to  him  to 
have  been  amused  when  the  trumpet  sounds,  and 
heaven  and  earth  are  shaking,  and  the  pit  opens  wide 
her  jaws  of  fire,  and  swallows  up  the  soul  unsaved? 
Of  what  avail  even  to  have  moralized  a  man  if  still  he 
is  on  the  left  hand  of  the  Judge,  and  if  still,  ''Depart, 
ye  cursed,"  shall  be  his  portion?  Blood-red  with  the 
murder  of  men's  souls  will  be  the  skirts  of  professing 
Christians,  unless  the  drift,  and  end,  and  aim  of  all 
their  work  has  been  to  "save  some."  Oh!  I  beseech 
you,  especially  you,  dear  friends,  who  are  working  in 
Sunday  and  Ragged  Schools,  and  elsewhere,  do  not 
think  that  you  have  done  anything  unless  the  chil- 
dren's souls  are  saved.  Settle  it  that  this  is  the  top  and 
bottom  of  the  business,  and  throw  your  whole  strength 
in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  by  the  power  of  the  Eternal 
Spirit,  into  this  object — if  by  any  means  you  may  save 
some  and  bring  some  to  Jesus  that  they  may  be  deliv- 
ered from  the  wrath  to  come. 

What  did  Paul  mean  by  saying  that  he  desired  to 
save  some?  What  is  it  to  be  saved?  Paul  meant  by 
that  nothing  less  than  that  some  should  be  born  again; 
for  no  man  is  saved  until  he  is  made  a  new  creature  in 
Christ  Jesus.     The  old  nature  cannot  be  saved;   it  is 


SOUL-SAVING   OUR   ONE   BUSINESS.  255 

(lead  and  corrupt;  the  best  thing  that  can  be  done  with 
it  is  to  let  it  be  crucified,  and  buried  in  the  sepulchre 
of  Christ.  There  must  be  a  new  nature  implanted  in  us 
by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  we  cannot  be  saved. 
We  must  be  as  much  new  creations  as  if  wt  had  never 
been;  we  must  come  a  second  time  as  fresh  from  the 
hand  of  the  Eternal  God  as  if  we  had  been  to-day 
moulded  by  divine  wisdom  as  Adam  was  in  Paradise. 
The  great  Teacher's  words  are,  'The  wind  bloweth 
where  it  listeth.  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but 
canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  gcjeth: 
so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  "Except  a 
man  be  born  again  (from  above),  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God."  This,  then,  Paul  meant,  that  men 
must  be  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  we  may 
never  rest  till  we  see  such  a  change  wrought  upon  them. 
This  must  be  the  object  of  our  teaching,  and  of  our 
praying,  indeed,  the  object  of  our  lives,  that  "some" 
may  be  regenerated. 

He  meant,  beside  that,  tluit  soiiw  //lix/it  be  cleansed 
from  their  past  ifiiquity  t/irt'itj^/i  inc  merit  of  the  ato?i- 
ing  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God.  No  man  can  be  saved 
from  his  sin  except  by  the  atonement.  Under  the  Jew- 
ish law  it  was  written,  "Cursed  is  every  one  that  con- 
tinueth  not  in  all  things  that  are  written  in  the  book 
of  the  law  to  do  them."  That  curse  has  never  been 
reversed,  and  the  only  way  to  escape  from  it  is  this: 
Jesus  Christ  was  made  a  curse  for  us,  as  it  is  written. 
"Cursed  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree."  Xow, 
he  who  believes  in  Jesus,  who  puts  his  hand  upon  the 
head  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Scapegoat  of  His  peo- 
ple, has  lost  his  sins.  His  faith  is  sure  evidence  that 
his  iniquities  were  of  old  laid  upon  the  head  of  the  great 
Substitute.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  punished  in  our 
room,  and  we  are  no  longer  obnoxious  to  the  wrath 


256  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

of  God.  Behold,  the  sin-atoning  sacrifice  is  slain,  and 
ofifered  on  tlie  altar,  and  the  Lord  has  accepted  it,  and 
is  so  well  pleased  that  he  has  declared  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  Jesus  is  fully  and  eternally  forgiven.  Now, 
we  long  to  see  men  thus  forgiven.  We  pine  to  bring 
the  prodigal's  head  into  the  Father's  bosom,  the  wan- 
dering sheep  to  the  good  Shepherd's  shoulder,  the  lost 
piece  of  money  into  the  Owner's  hands ;  and  until  this 
is  done,  nothing  is  done,  I  mean,  brethren,  nothing 
spiritually,  nothing  eternally,  nothing  that  is  worthy  of 
the  agony  of  a  Christian's  life,  nothing  that  can  be 
looked  upon  as  deserving  of  an  immortal  spirit's  spend- 
ing all  its  fires  upon  it.  O  Lord,  our  soul  yearns  to  see 
Jesus  rewarded  by  the  salvation  of  the  blood-bought! 
Aid  us  by  Thine  efifectual  grace  to  lead  souls  to  Him. 

Once  more,  when  the  apostle  wished  that  he  might 
save  some,  he  meant  that,  being  regenerated,  and  be- 
ing pardoned,  they  might  also  be  purified  a?id  made 
holy,  for  a  man  is  not  saved  while  he  lives  in  sin.  Let 
a  man  say  what  he  will,  he  cannot  be  saved  from  sin 
whilst  he  is  the  slave  of  it.  How  is  a  drunkard  saved 
from  drunkenness  whilst  he  still  riots  as  before?  How 
can  you  say  that  the  swearer  is  saved  from  blasphemy 
while  he  is  still  profane?  Words  must  be  used  in  their 
true  meaning.  Now,  the  great  object  of  the  Christian's 
work  should  be  that  some  might  be  saved  from  their 
sins,  purified,  and  made  white,  and  made  examples  of 
integrity,  chastity,  honesty  and  righteousness,  as  the 
fruit  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  and  where  this  is  not  the 
case,  we  have  laboured  in  vain,  and  spent  our  strength 
for  nought. 

Now,  I  do  protest  before  you  all  that  I  have  in  this 
house  of  prayer  never  sought  anything  but  the  con- 
version of  souls,  and  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  witness, 
and  your  consciences,  too,  that  I  have  never  laboured 


SOUL-SAVING   OUR   ONE   BUSINESS.  2r.7 

for  anything  except  this,  the  bringing  of  you  to  Christ, 
that  I  might  present  you  at  last  unto  God  "accepted 
in  the  Beloved."  I  have  not  sought  to  gratify  depraved 
appetites  either  by  novelty  of  doctrine  or  ceremonial, 
but  I  have  kept  up  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel.  I  have 
kept  back  no  part  of  the  price  of  God's  Word  from 
you,  but  I  have  endeavoured  to  give  you  the  whole 
counsel  of  God.  I  have  sought  out  no  fineries  of  speech, 
but  have  spoken  plainly,  and  right  straight  at  your 
hearts  and  consciences;  and  if  you  be  not  saved,  I 
mourn  and  lament  before  God  that  up  to  this  day, 
though  I  have  preached  hundreds  of  times  to  you,  yet 
I  have  preached  in  vain.  If  you  have  not  closed  in  with 
Christ,  if  you  have  not  been  washed  in  the  fountain 
filled  with  blood,  you  are  waste  pieces  of  soil  from 
which  no  harvest  has  yet  come. 

You  tell  me,  perhaps,  that  you  have  been  kept  from 
a  great  many  sins,  that  you  have  learned  a  great  many 
truths  by  coming  here.  So  far,  so  good;  but  could  I 
af¥ord  to  live  for  this,  merely  to  teach  you  certain 
truths,  or  keep  you  back  from  open  sins?  How  could 
this  cont'ent  me  if  I  knew  all  the  while  that  you  were 
still  unsaved,  and  must,  therefore,  after  death,  be  cast 
into  the  flames  of  hell?  Nay,  beloved,  before  the  Lord, 
I  count  nothing  to  be  worthy  of  your  pastor's  life,  and 
soul,  and  energy,  but  the  winning  of  you  to  Christ. 
Nothing  but  your  salvation  can  ever  make  me  feel  that 
my  heart's  desire  is  granted.  I  ask  every  worker  here 
to  see  to  this,  that  he  never  turns  aside  from  shooting  at 
this  target,  and  at  the  centre  of  this  target,  too,  namely, 
that  he  may  win  souls  for  Christ,  and  see  them  born  to 
God,  and  washed  in  the  fountain  filled  with  blood.  Let 
the  workers'  hearts  ache  and  yearn,  and  their  voices 
cry  till  their  throats  are  hoarse;  but  let  them  judge 
that  they  have  accomplished  nothing  whatever  until,  at 


258  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

least,  in  some  cases,  men  are  really  saved.  As  the  fish- 
erman longs  to  take  the  fish  in  his  net,  as  the  hunter 
pants  to  bear  home  his  spoil,  as  the  mother  pines  to 
clasp  her  lost  child  to  her  bosom,  so  do  we  faint  for 
the  salvation  of  souls;  and  we  must  have  them,  or  we 
are  ready  to  die.  Save  them,  O  Lord,  save  them  for 
Christ's  sake! 

But  now  we  must  leave  that  point  for  another. 

II.  THE  APOSTLE  HAD  GREAT  REASONS 
FOR  ELECTING  SUCH  AN  OBJECT  IN  LIFE. 

Were  he  here,  I  think  he  would  tell  you  that  his 
reasons  were  something  of  this  kind.  To  save  souls! 
If  they  be  not  saved,  hjw  is  God  dishonoured!  Did 
you  ever  think  over  the  amount  of  dishonour  that  is 
done  to  the  Lord  our  God  in  London  in  any  one  hour 
of  the  day?  Take,  if  you  will,  this  prayer-hour,  when 
we  are  gathered  here  ostensibly  to  pray.  If  the 
thoughts  of  this  great  assembly  could  all  be  read,  how 
many  of  them  would  be  dishonouring  to  the  Most 
High!  But  outside  of  every  house  of  prayer,  outside 
of  every  place  of  worship  of  every  kind,  think  of  the 
thousands,  and  tens  of  thousands,  the  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands, who  have  all  this  day  neglected  the  very  sem- 
blance of  the  worship  of  the  God  who  has  made  them, 
and  who  keeps  them  in  being!  Think  of  how  many 
times  the  door  of  the  gin-palace  has  swung  on  its 
hinges  during  this  holy  hour,  how  many  times  God's 
name  has  been  blasphemed  at  the  drinking-bar !  There 
are  worse  things  than  these,  if  worse  can  "be,  but  I  shall 
not  lift  the  veil.  Transfer  your  thoughts  to  an  hour  or 
so  later,  when  the  veil  of  darkness  has  descended. 
Shame  will  not  permit  us  even  to  think  of  how  God's 
name  is  dishonoured  in  the  persons  of  those  whose  first 
father  was  made  after  the  image  of  God,  but  who  pol* 
lute  themselves  to  be  the  slaves  of  Satan  and  the  prey 


SOUT.-SAVINCi   OTTR   ONE   BUSINESS.  2r>9 

of  bestial  lusts!  Alas!  alas!  for  this  city,  it  is  full  of 
abominations,  of  which  the  apostle  said,  "It  is  a  shame 
even  to  speak  of  those  things  which  are  done  of  Urmu 
in  secret." 

Christian  men  and  women,  nothing  but  the  gospel 
can  sweep  away  the  social  evil.  Vices  are  like  vipers, 
and  only  the  voice  of  Jesus  can  drive  them  out  of  the 
land.  The  gospel  is  the  great  besom  with  which  to 
cleanse  the  filthiness  of  this  city,  and  nothing  else  will 
avail.  Will  you  not,  for  God's  sake,  whose  name  is 
every  day  profaned,  seek  to  save  some?  If  you  will 
enlarge  your  thoughts,  and  take  in  all  the  great  cities 
of  the  Continent ;  ay,  further  still,  take  all  the  idolaters 
of  China  and  Hindostan,  the  worshippers  of  the  false 
prophet  and  antichrist,  what  a  mass  of  provocation 
have  we  here!  What  a  smoke  in  Jehovah's  nose  must 
this  false  worship  be!  How  He  must  often  put  His 
hand  to  the  hilt  of  His  sword  as  though  He  would 
say,  "Ah!  I  will  ease  Me  of  Mine  adversaries."  But 
He  bears  it  patiently.  Let  us  not  become  indifferent 
to  His  long  suffering,  but  day  and  night  let  us  cry  unto 
Him,  and  daily  let  us  labour  for  Him,  if  by  any  means 
we  may  save  some  for  His  glory's  sake. 

Think,  dear  friends,  also,  of  the  extreme  misery  of 
this  our  hwnati  raee.  It  would  be  a  very  dreadful  thing 
if  you  could  get  any  idea  of  the  aggregate  of  the  misery 
of  London  at  the  present  moment  in  the  hospitals  and 
workhouses.  Now,  I  would  not  say  half  a  word  against 
poverty,  wherever  it  comes  it  is  a  bitter  ill;  but  you 
will  mark  as  you  notice  carefully  that,  while  a  few 
are  poor  because  of  unavoidable  circumstances,  a  very 
large  mass  of  the  poverty  of  London  is  the  sheer  and 
clear  result  of  wastefulness,  want  of  forethought,  idle- 
ness, and,  worst  of  all,  of  drunkenness.  Ah.  that 
drunkenness!    That  is  the  master-evil.    If  drink  could 


260  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

but  be  got  rid  of,  we  might  be  sure  of  conquering  the 
very  devil  himself.  The  drunkenness  created  by  the 
infernal  liquor-dens  which  plague-spot  the  whole  of  this 
huge  city  is  appalling.  No,  I  did  not  speak  in  haste,  or 
let  slip  a  hasty  word:  many  of  the  drink-houses  are 
nothing  less  than  infernal:  in  some  respects  they  are 
worse,  for  hell  has  its  uses  as  the  divine  protest  against 
sin,  but  as  for  the  gin-palace,  there  is  nothing  to  be 
said  in  its  favour.  The  vices  of  the  age  cause  three- 
fourths  of  all  the  poverty.  If  you  could  look  at  the 
homes — the  wretched  homes  where  women  will  tremble 
at  the  sound  of  their  husband's  foot  as  he  comes  home, 
where  little  children  will  crouch  down  with  fear  upon 
their  little  heap  of  straw  because  the  human  brute  who 
calls  himself  "a  man"  will  come  reeling  home  from  the 
place  where  he  has  been  indulging  his  appetites — if 
you  could  look  at  such  a  sight,  and  remember  that  it 
will  be  seen  ten  thousand  times  over  to-night,  I  think 
you  would  say,  "God  help  us  by  all  means  to  save 
some!''  Since  the  great  axe  to  lay  at  the  root  of  the 
deadly  upas  tree  is  the  gospel  of  Christ,  may  God  help 
us  to  hold  that  axe  there,  and  to  work  constantly  with 
it  till  the  huge  trunk  of  the  poison  tree  begins  to  rock 
to  and  fro,  and  we  get  it  down,  and  London  is  saved,  k 
and  the  world  is  saved  from  the  wretchedness  and  the 
misery  which  now  drip  from  every  bough! 

Again,  dear  friends,  the  Christian  has  other  reasons 
for  seeking  to  save  some;  and  chiefly  because  of  the 
terrible  future  of  impenitent  souls.  That  veil  which 
hangs  before  me  is  not  penetrated  by  every  glance;  but 
he  who  has  his  eye  touched  with  heavenly  eye-salve 
sees  through  it,  and  what  does  he  see?  Myriads  upon 
myriads  of  spirits  in  dread  procession  passing  from 
their  bodies,  and  passing — whither?  Unsaved,  unre- 
generate,  unwashed  in  precious  blood,  we  see  them 


SOUL-isAVlNG    OUR   ONE   BUSINESS.  201 

go  up  to  the  solemn  bar  whence  in  silence  the  sentence* 
comes  forth,  and  they  are  banished  from  the  presence 
of  God,  banished  to  horrors  which  are  not  to  be  de- 
scribed nor  even  to  be  imagined.  This  alone  is  enough 
to  cause  us  distress  day  and  night.  This  decision  of 
dest'ny  has  about  it  a  terribly  solemnity.  But  the  resur- 
rection trumpet  sounds.  Those  spirits  come  forth  from 
their  prison-house.  I  see  them  returning  to  earth,  rising 
from  the  pit  to  the  bodies  in  which  they  lived :  and  now 
I  see  them  stand — multitudes,  multitudes,  multitudes, 
multitudes — in  the  Valley  of  Decision.  And  He  comes, 
sitting  on  a  great  white  throne,  with  the  crown  upon 
His  head,  and  the  books  before  Him;  and  there  they 
stand  as  prisoners  at  the  bar.  My  vision  now  perceives 
them — how  they  tremble!  How^  they  quiver,  like  aspen 
leaves  in  the  gale!  Whither  can  they  flee?  Rocks  can- 
not hide  them,  mountains  will  not  open  their  bowels 
to  conceal  them!  What  shall  become  of  them?  The 
dread  angel  takes  the  sickle,  reaps  them  as  the  reaper 
cuts  up  the  tares  for  the  oven;  and  as  he  gathers 
them,  he  casts  them  down  where  despair  shall  be  their 
everlasting  torment.  Woe  is  me,  my  heart  sinks  as 
I  see  their  doom,  and  hear  the  terrible  cries  of  their 
too-late  awaking.  Save  some,  O  Christians!  By  all 
means,  save  some.  By  yonder  flames,  and  outer  dark- 
ness, and  the  weeping,  and  the  wailing,  and  the  gnash- 
ing of  teeth,  seek  to  save  some!  Let  this,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  apostle,  be  your  great,  your  ruling  object  in  life, 
that  by  all  means  you  may  save  some. 

For,  oh:  if  they  be  saved,  observe  the eonirast.  Their 
spirits  mount  to  heaven,  and  after  the  resurrection  their 
bodies  ascend  also,  and  there  they  praise  redeeming 
love.  No  fingers  more  nimble  on  the  harp-strings  than 
theirs!  No  notes  more  sweet  than  theirs,  as  they  sing, 
"Unto  Him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins 


262  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

in  His  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests 
unto  God  and  His  Father;  to  Him  be  glory  and  do- 
minion for  ever  and  ever."  What  bliss  to  see  the  once 
rebellious  brought  home  to  God,  and  heirs  of  wrath 
made  possessors  of  heaven!  All  this  is  involved  in  sal- 
vation. Oh,  that  myriads  may  come  to  this  blessed 
state!  "Save  some" — oh!  save  some,  at  least.  Seek 
that  some  may  be  there  in  glory.  Behold  your  Master. 
He  is  your  pattern.  He  left  heaven  to  save  some.  He 
went  to  the  cross,  to  the  grave,  to  "save  some;"  this 
was  the  great  object  of  His  life,  to  lay  down  His  life 
for  His  sheep.  He  loved  His  Church,  and  gave  Him- 
self for  her,  that  He  might  redeem  her  unto  Himself. 
Imitate  your  Master.  Learn  His  self-denial  and  His 
blessed  consecration,  if  by  any  means  you  may  save 
some. 

Aly  soul  yearneth  that  I  personally  may  ''save  some," 
but  broader  is  my  desire  than  that.  I  would  have  e'z-^/^ 
one  of  you,  my  beloved  friends,  associated  here  in 
church  fellowship,  to  become  spiritual  parents  of  chil- 
dren for  God.  Oh,  that  every  one  of  you  might  "save 
some!"  Yes,  my  venerable  Brethren,  you  are  not  too 
old  for  service.  Yes,  my  young  friends,  ye  young  men 
and  maidens,  ye  are  not  too  young  to  be  recruits  in 
the  King's  service.  If  the  kingdom  is  ever  to  come  to 
our  Lord — and  come  it  will — it  never  will  come  through 
a  few  ministers,  missionaries,  or  evangelists  preaching 
the  gospel.  It  must  come  through  every  one  of  you 
preaching  it — in  the  shop  and  by  the  fireside,  when 
walking  abroad  and  when  sitting  in  the  chamber.  You 
must  all  of  you  be  always  endeavouring  to  "save  some." 
I  would  enlist  you  all  afresh  to-night,  and  bind  anew 
the  Kings'  colours  upon  you.  I  would  that  you  would 
fall  in  love  with  my  Master  over  anew,  and  enter  a  sec- 


SOUL-SAVINC;    OUR   ONE   BUSINESS.  263 

Olid  time  upon  the  love  of  your  espousals.  There  is  a 
hymn  of  Cowper's  which  we  sometimes  sing: 

"Oh,    for   a   closer   walk   with   God!" 

May  we  get  to  have  a  closer  walk  with  Him;  and  if 
we  do  so,  we  shall  also  feel  a  more  vehement  desire  to 
magnify  Christ  in  the  salvation  of  sinners. 

I  would  like  to  press  the  enquiry  upon  you  who  are 
saved — How  many  others  have  you  brought  to  Christ? 
You  cannot  do  it  by  yourself,  I  know;  but  I  mean, 
how  many  has  the  Spirit  of  God  brought  by  you? 
How  many,  did  I  say?  Is  it  quite  certain  that  you 
have  led  any  to  Jesus?  Can  you  not  recollect  one? 
I  pity  you,  then!  The  Lord  said  to  Jeremiah,  con- 
cerning Coniah,  "Write  ye  this  man  childless."  That 
was  considered  to  be  a  fearful  curse.  Shall  I  write 
you  childless,  my  beloved  friends?  Your  children  are 
not  saved,  your  wife  is  not  saved,  and  you  are  spirit- 
ually childless.  Can  you  bear  this  thought?  I  pray 
you,  wake  from  your  slumbering,  and  ask  the  Master 
to  make  you  useful.  "I  wish  the  saints  cared  for  us 
sinners,"  said  a  young  man.  "They  do  care  for  you," 
answered  one,  "they  care  very  much  for  you."  "Why 
don't  they  show  it,  then?"  said  he,  "I  have  often  wished 
to  have  a  talk  about  good  things,  but  my  friend,  who 
is  a  member  of  the  church,  never  broaches  the  subject, 
and  seems  to  study  how  to  keep  clear  of  it  when  I  am 
with  him."  Do  not  let  them  say  so.  Do  tell  them  about 
Christ  and  things  divine  and  make  this  your  resolve, 
every  one  of  you,  that  if  men  perish  they  shall  not  perish 
for  want  of  your  prayers,  nor  for  want  of  your  earnest 
and  loving  instructions.  God  give  you  grace,  each  one 
of  you,  to  resolve  by  all  means  to  save  some,  and  then 
to  carrv  out  vour  resolution! 


264  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

III.  But  my  time  is  almost  gone,  and  therefore  I 
have  to  mention,  in  the  last  place,  THE  GREAT 
METHODS  WHICH  THE  APOSTLE  USED. 

How  did  he  who  so  longed  to  "save  some"  set 
about  it?  Why,  first  of  all,  by  simply  preaching  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  He  did  not  attempt  to  create  a  sen- 
sation by  startling  statements,  neither  did  he  preach 
erroneous  doctrine  in  order  to  obtain  the  assent  of 
the  multitude.  I  fear  that  some  evangelists  preach 
what  in  their  own  minds  they  must  know  to  be  un- 
true. They  keep  back  certain  doctrines,  not  because 
they  are  untrue,  but  because  they  do  not  give  scope 
enough  for  their  ravings,  and  they  make  loose  state- 
ments because  they  hope  to  reach  more  minds.  How- 
ever earnest  a  man  may  be  for  the  salvation  of  sin- 
ners, I  do  not  believe  that  he  has  the  right  to  make  any 
statement  which  his  sober  judgment  will  not  justify. 
I  think  I  have  heard  of  things  said  and  done  at  revival 
meetings  which  were  not  according  to  sound  doctrine, 
but  which  were  always  excused  by  "the  excitement  of 
the  occasion."  I  hold  that  I  have  no  right  to  state 
false  doctrine,  even  if  I  knew  it  would  save  a  soul.  The 
supposition  is,  of  course,  absurd;  but  it  makes  you 
see  what  I  mean.  My  business  is  to  bring  to  bear  upon 
men,  not  falsehood,  but  truth;  and  I  shall  not  be 
excused  if,  under  any  pretence,  I  palm  a  lie  upon  the 
people.  Rest  assured  that,  to  keep  back  any  part  of 
the  gospel,  is  not  the  right,  nor  the  true  method  for 
paving  men.  Tell  the  sinner  all  the  doctrines.  If  you 
liold  Calvinistic  doctrine,  as  I  hope  you  do,  do  not 
stutter  about  it,  nor  stammer  over  it,  but  speak  it  out. 
"Depend  upon  it,  many  revivals  have  been  evanescent 
because  a  full-orbed  gospel  was  not  proclaimed.  Give 
the  people  every  truth,  every  truth  baptized  in  holy 


S0UL-i3AVlNG   OUR   ONE   BUSINESS.  265 

tire,  and  each  truth  will  have  its  own  useful  effect  upon 
the  mind. 

But  the  great  truth  is  the  cross,  the  truth  that  "God 
so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  per- 
ish, but  have  everlasting  life."  Brother,  keep  to  that. 
That  is  the  bell  for  you  to  ring.  Ring  it,  man!  Ring 
it!  Keep  on  ringing  it.  Sound  forth  that  note  upon 
your  silver  trumpet,  or  if  you  are  only  a  ram's  horn, 
sound  it  forth,  and  the  walls  of  Jericho  will  come  down. 
Alas,  for  the  fineries  of  our  "cultured"  modern  divines ! 
I  hear  them  crying  out,  and  denouncing  my  old- 
fashioned  advice.  This  talking  about  Christ  crucified 
is  said  to  be  archaic,  conventional,  and  antique,  and 
not  at  all  suitable  to  the  refinement  of  this  wonderful 
age.  It  is  astonishing  how  learned  we  have  all  grown 
lately.  We  are  getting  so  very  wise,  I  am  afraid  we 
shall  ripen  into  fools  before  long,  even  if  we  have  not 
arrived  at  it  already.  People  want  ^HJiinking'^  nowa- 
days, so  it  is  said ;  and  the  working-men  will  go  where 
science  is  deified,  and  profound  "thought"  is  enshrined. 
I  have  noticed  that,  as  a  general  rule,  wdierever  the  new 
"thinking"  drives  out  the  old  gospel,  there  are  more 
spiders  than  people,  but  where  there  is  the  simple 
preaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  place  is  crow^ded  to  the 
doors.  Nothing  else  will  crowd  a  meeting-house,  after 
all,  for  any  length  of  time,  but  the  preaching  of  Christ 
crucified.  But  as  to  this  matter,  whether  it  be  popular 
or  unpopular,  our  mind  is  made  up,  and  our  foot  is 
put  down.  Question  we  have  none  as  to  our  own 
course.  If  it  be  foolish  to  preach  up  atonement  by 
blood,  we  will  be  fools;  and  if  it  be  madness  to  stick 
to  the  old  truth,  just  as  Paul  delivered  it,  in  all  its 
simplicity,  without  any  refinement,  or  improvement, 
we  mean  to  stick  to  it,  even  if  we  be  pilloried  as  being 


266  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

incapable  of  progressing  with  the  age,  for  we  are  per- 
suaded that  this  "fooHshness  of  preaching"  is  a  divine 
ordinance,  and  that  the  cross  of  Christ,  which  stum- 
bles so  many,  and  is  ridiculed  by  so  many  more,  is  still 
the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God.  Yes,  just 
the  old-fashioned  truth — if  thou  believest,  thou  shalt 
be  saved, — that  will  we  stick  to,  and  may  God  send 
His  blessing  upon  it  according  to  His  own  eternal 
purpose!  We  do  not  expect  this  preaching  to  be  pop- 
ular, but  we  know  that  God  will  justify  it  ere  long. 
Meanwhile,  we  are  not  staggered  because — 

As  childish  dotage,  and  delirious  dreams; 
The  truths  we  love  a  sightless  world  blasphemes 
The  danger  they  discern  not  they  deny; 
Laugh  at  their  only  remedy,  and  die." 

Next  to  this,  Paul  used  much  prayer.  The  gospel 
alone  will  not  be  blessed;  we  must  pray  over  ouc 
preaching.  A  great  painter  was  asked  what  he  mixed 
his  colours  with,  and  he  replied  that  he  mixed  them 
with  brains.  Twas  well  for  a  painter,  but  if  anyone 
should  ask  a  preacher  what  he  mixes  truth  with,  he 
ought  to  be  able  to  answer — v/ith  prayer,  much  prayer. 
When  a  poor  man  was  breaking  granite  by  the  road- 
side, he  was  down  on  his  knees  while  he  gave  his  blows, 
and  a  minister  passing  by  said,  ''Ah,  my  friend,  here 
you  are  at  your  hard  work;  your  work  is  just  like  mine; 
you  have  to  break  stones,  and  so  do  I."  "Yes,"  said  the 
man,  "and  if  you  manage  to  break  stony  hearts,  you 
will  have  to  do  it  as  I  do,  down  on  your  knees."  The 
man  was  right,  no  one  can  use  the  gospel  hammer  well 
except  he  is  much  on  his  knees,  but  the  gospel  hammer 
soon  splits  flinty  hearts  when  a  man  knows  how  to 
pray.  Prevail  with  God,  and  you  will  prevail  with  men. 
Straight  from  the  closet  to  the  pulpit  let  us  come,  with 


SOUL-SAVING  OUR  ONE  BUSINESS.  207 

the  anointing  oil  of  God's  Spirit  fresh  upon  us.  What 
we  receive  in  secrecy  we  are  cheerfully  to  dispense  in 
public.  Let  us  never  venture  to  speak  for  God  to  men, 
until  we  have  spoken  for  men  to  God.  Yes,  dear  hear- 
ers, if  you  want  a  blessing-  on  your  Sunday-school 
teaching,  or  any  other  form  of  Christian  labour,  mix 
it  up  with  fervent  intercession. 

And  then  observe  one  other  thing.  Paul  went  to 
his  work  aliuays  with  an  intense  sympatJiy  for  those  he 
dealt  with,  a  sympatiiy  zcJiich  made  hi/n  atiapt  tiiiiisrlf 
to  each  case.  If  he  talked  to  a  Jew,  he  did  not  begin 
at  once  blurting  out  that  he  was  the  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  but  he  said  he  was  a  Jew,  as  Jew  he  was.  He 
raised  no  questions  about  nationalities  or  ceremonies. 
He  wanted  to  tell  the  Jew  of  Him  of  whom  Isaiah 
said,  **He  is  despised  and  rejected  of  men,  a  i\Ian  of 
sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief,"  in  order  that  he 
might  believe  in  Jesus  and  so  be  saved.  If  he  met  a 
Gentile,  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  never  showed  any 
of  the  squeamishness  which  might  have  been  expected 
to  cling  to  him  on  account  of  his  Jewish  education. 
He  ate  as  the  Gentile  ate,  and  drank  as  he  did,  sat 
with  him,  and  talked  with  him;  was,  as  it  were,  a  Gen- 
tile with  him;  never  raising  any  question  about  cir- 
cumcision or  uncircumcision,  but  solely  wishing  to  tell 
him  of  Christ,  who  came  into  the  world  to  save  both 
Jew  and  Gentile,  and  to  make  them  one.  If  Paul  met 
with  a  Scythian,  he  spoke  to  him  in  the  Barbarian 
tongue,  and  not  in  classic  Greek.  If  he  met  a  Greek, 
he  spoke  to  him  as  he  did  at  the  Areopagus,  with 
language  that  was  fitted  for  the  polished  Athenian. 
He  was  all  things  to  all  men,  that  he  might  by  all 
means  save  some. 

So  let  it  be  with  you.  Christian  people:   your  one 
business  in  life  is  to  lead  men  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ 


268  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  every  other  thing 
should  be  made  subservient  to  this  one  object;  if  you 
can  but  get  them  saved,  everything  else  will  come  right 
in  due  time.  jMr.  Hudson  Taylor,  a  dear  man  of  God, 
who  has  laboured  much  in  Inland  China,  finds  it  help- 
ful to  dress  as  a  Chinaman,  and  wear  a  pigtail.  He 
always  mingles  with  the  people,  and  as  far  as  possible 
lives  as  they  do.  This  seems  to  me  to  be  a  truly  wise 
policy.  I  can  understand  that  we  shall  win  upon  a 
congregation  of  Chinese  by  becoming  as  Chinese  as 
possible;  and  if  this  be  the  case,  we  are  bound  to  be 
Chinese  to  the  Chinese  to  save  the  Chinese.  It  would 
not  be  amiss  to  become  a  Zulu  to  save  the  Zulus, 
though  we  must  mind  that  we  do  it  in  another  sense 
than  Colenso  did.  If  we  can  put  ourselves  on  a  level 
with  those  whose  good  we  seek,  we  shall  be  more  likely 
to  effect  our  purpose  than  if  we  remain  aliens  and  for- 
eigners, and  then  talk  of  love  and  unity.  To  sink  my- 
self to  save  others  is  the  idea  of  the  apostle.  To  throw 
overboard  all  peculiarities,  and  yield  a  thousand  in- 
different points,  in  order  to  bring  men  to  Jesus,  is  our 
wisdom  if  we  would  extend  our  Master's  kingdom. 
Never  may  any  whim  or  conventionality  of  ours  keep 
a  soul  from  considering  the  gospel — that  were  horrible 
indeed.  Better  far  to  be  personally  inconvenienced  by 
compliance  with  things  indifferen^t,  than  to  retard  a 
sinner's  coming  by  quarrelling  about  trifles. 

If  Jesus  Christ  were  here  to-day,  'I  am  sure  he  would 
not  put  on  any  of  those  gaudy  rags  in  which  the 
Puseyite  delights  himself.  I  cannot  imagine  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  dressed  out  In  that  style.  Why,  the  apos- 
tle tells  our  women  that  they  are  to  dress  themselves 
modestly,  and  I  do  not  think  Christ  would  have  His 
ministers  set  an  example  of  tomfoolery:  but  yet  even 
in  dress  something  may  be  done  on  the  principle  of 


SOUL-SAVING  OUR  ONE  BUSINESS.  2G9 

our  text.  When  Jesus  Christ  was  here,  what  did  He 
wear?  To  put  it  in  plain  Enghsh,  He  wore  a  smock 
frock.  He  wore  the  common  dress  of  the  country- 
men, a  garment  woven  from  the  top  throughout,  with- 
out seam;  and  I  think  he  would  have  His  ministers 
wear  that  costume  which  is  most  like  the  dress  which 
their  hearers  wear  in  common,  and  so  even  in  dress 
associate  with  their  hearers,  and  be  one  among  them. 
He  would  have  you  teachers,  if  you  want  to  save  your 
children,  talk  to  them  like  children,  and  make  your- 
selves children  if  you  can.  You  who  want  to  get  at 
young  peoples'  hearts  must  try  to  be  young.  You  who 
wish  to  visit  the  sick  must  sympathise  w'ith  them  in  their 
sickness.  Get  to  speak  as  you  would  like  to  be  spoken 
to  if  you  were  sick.  Come  down  to  those  who  can- 
not come  up  to  you.  You  cannot  pull  people  out  of 
the  water  without  stooping  down  and  getting  hold  of 
them.  If  you  have  to  deal  with  l^ad  characters,  you  must 
come  down  to  them,  not  in  their  sin,  but  in  their  rough- 
ness and  in  their  style  of  language,  so  as  to  get  a  hold 
of  them.  I  pray  God  that  we  may  learn  the  sacred  art 
of  soul-winning  by  adaptation.  They  called  Mr.  White- 
field's  chapel  at  Moorfields  'The  Soul-Trap."  White- 
field  was  delighted,  and  said  he  hoped  it  would  always 
he  a  soul-trap.  Oh,  that  all  our  places  of  worship  were 
soul-traps,  and  every  Christian  a  fisher  of  men.  each  one 
doing  his  best,  as  the  fisherman  does,  by  every  art  and 
artifice,  to  catch  those  he  fishes  for!  Well  may  we 
use  all  means  to  win  so  great  a  prize  as  a  spirit  destined 
for  eternal  weal  or  woe.  The  diver  plunges  deep  to 
find  pearls,  and  we  may  accept  any  labour  or  hazard 
to  win  a  soul.  Rouse  yourselves,  my  brethren,  for  this 
God-like  work,  and  mav  the  Lord  bless  you  in  it! 


INSTRUCTION  IN  SOUL-WINNING. 


"And  he  saith  unto  them,  Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make 
you  fishers  of  men."— Matthew  iv.  19. 


INSTRUCTION  IN  SOUL-WINNING. 


When  Christ  calls  us  by  His  grace,  we  ought  not 
only  to  remember  what  we  are,  but  we  ought  also  to 
think  of  what  He  can  make  us.  It  is,  "Follow  Me, 
and  I  will  make  you."  We  should  repent  of  what  we 
liave  been,  but  rejoice  in  what  we  may  be.  It  is  not, 
"Follow  ]\Ie,  because  of  what  you  are  already."  It  is 
not,  "Follow  Me,  because  you  may  make  something 
of  yourselves;"  but  ''Follow  Me,  because  of  what  I 
will  make  you."  Verily,  I  might  say  of  each  one  of  us* 
as  soon  as  we  are  converted,  "It  doth  not  yet  appear 
v.diat  we  shall  be."  It  did  not  seem  a  likely  thing  that 
lowly  fishermen  would  develop  into  apostles,  that  men 
so  handy  with  the  net  would  be  quite  as  much  at  home 
in  preaching  sermons  and  in  instructing  converts.  One 
would  have  said,  "How  can  these  things  be?  You  can- 
not make  founders  of  churches  out  of  peasants  of  Gal- 
ilee." That  is  exactly  what  Christ  did;  and  when  we 
are  brought  low  in  the  sight  of  God  by  a  sense  of  our 
own  unworthiness,  we  may  feel  encouraged  to  follow 
Jesus  because  of  what  He  can  make  us.  What  said  the 
woman  of  a  sorrowful  spirit  when  she  lifted  up  her 
song?  "He  raiseth  up  the  poor  out  of  the  dust,  and 
lifteth  up  the  beggar  from  the  dunghill,  to  set  them 
among  princes."  We  cannot  tell  what  God  may  make 
of  us  in  the  new  creation,  since  it  would  have  been 
quite  impossible  to  have  foretold  what  He  made  of 
chaos  in  the  old  creation.    Who  could  have  imagined 


274  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

all  the  beautiful  things  that  came  forth  from  darkness 
and  disorder  by  that  one  fiat,  "Let  there  be  light"? 
And  who  can  tell  what  lovely  displays  of  everything 
that  is  divinely  fair  may  yet  appear  in  a  man's  formerly 
dark  life,  when  God's  grace  has  said  to  him,  *'Let  there 
be  light"?  O,  you  who  see  in  yourselves  at  present 
nothing  that  is  desirable,  come  you  and  follow  Christ 
for  the  sake  of  what  He  can  make  out  of  you !  Do  you 
not  hear  His  sweet  voice  calling  to  you,  and  saying, 
"Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men?" 

Note,  next,  that  ive  are  not  made  all  that  we  shall 
be,  nor  all  that  we  ought  to  desire  to  be,  when  we  are 
ourselves  fished  for  and  caught.  This  is  what  the  grace 
of  God  does  for  us  at  first;  but  it  is  not  all.  We  are 
like  the  fishes,  making  sin  to  be  our  element,  as  they 
live  in  the  sea ;  and  the  good  Lord  comes,  and  with  the 
gospel  net  He  takes  us,  and  He  delivers  us  from  the 
life  and  love  of  sin.  But  He  has  not  wrought  for  us 
all  that  He  can  do,  nor  all  that  we  should  wish  Him 
to  do,  when  He  has  done  this;  for  it  is  another  and  a 
higher  miracle  to  make  us  who  were  fish  to  become 
fishers — to  make  the  saved  ones  saviours — to  make  the 
convert  into  a  converter — the  receiver  of  the  gospel 
into  an  imparter  of  that  same  gospel  to  other  people. 
I  think  I  may  say  to  every  person  whom  I  am  address- 
ing— If  you  are  yourself  saved,  the  work  is  but  half 
done  until  you  are  employed  to  bring  others  to  Christ. 
You  are  as  yet  but  half  formed  in  the  image  of  your 
Lord.  You  have  not  attained  to  the  full  development 
of  the  Christ-life  in  you  unless  you'have  commenced  in 
some  feeble  way  to  tell  others  of  the  grace  of  God;  and 
I  trust  that  you  will  find  no  rest  to  the  sole  of  your 
foot  till  you  have  been  the  means  of  leading  many 
to  that  blessed  Saviour  who  is  your  confidence  and 
your  hope.    His  word  is,  "Follow  Ale,  not  merely  that 


INSTRUCTION   IN  SOUL-WINNING.  275 

you  may  l^e  saved,  iior  even  that  you  may  be  sancti- 
fied; but  'Follow  Me,  and  1  will  make  you  fishers  of 
men.'  "  Be  following  Christ  with  that  intent  and  aim ; 
and  fear  that  you  are  not  perfectly  following  Him  un- 
less in  some  degree  lie  is  making  use  of  you  to  be 
fishers  of  men.  The  fact  is,  that  every  one  of  us  must 
take  to  the  business  of  a  man-catcher.  If  Christ  has 
caught  us,  we  must  catch  others.  If  we  have  been  ap- 
prehended of  Him,  we  must  be  His  constables,  to 
apprehend  rebels  for  Him.  Let  us  ask  Him  to  give 
us  grace  to  go  a-fishing,  and  so  to  cast  our  nets  that 
we  may  take  a  great  multitude  of  fishes.  Oh,  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  may  raise  up  from  among  us  some  mas- 
ter-fishers, who  shall  sail  their  boats  in  many  a  sea, 
and  surround  great  shoals  of  fish! 

My  teaching  at  this  time  will  be  very  simple,  but  I 
hope  it  will  be  eminently  practical;  for  my  longing  is 
that  not  one  of  you  that  love  the  Lord  may  be  back- 
ward in  His  service.  What  says  the  Song  of  Solomon 
concerning  certain  sheep  that  come  up  from  the  wash- 
ing? It  says,  "Every  one  bareth  twins,  and  there  is 
not  one  barren  among  them."  May  that  be  so  with 
all  the  members  of  this  church,  and  all  the  Christian 
people  wdio  hear  or  read  this  sermon!  The  fact  is, 
the  day  is  very  dark.  The  heavens  are  lowering  with 
heavy  thunder  clouds.  Men  little  dream  of  what  tem- 
pests may  soon  shake  this  city,  and  the  whole  social 
fabric  of  this  land,  even  to  a  general  breaking  up  of 
society.  So  dark  may  the  night  become  that  the  stars 
may  seem  to  fall  like  blighted  fruit  from  the  tree.  The 
times  are  evil.  Now,  if  never  before,  every  glow-worm 
must  show  its  spark.  You  with  the  tiniest  farthing 
candle  must  take  it  from  under  the  bushel,  and  set  it 
on  a  candlestick.  There  is  need  of  you  all.  Lot  was 
a  poor  creature.     He  w\as  a  very,  very  wretched  kind 


276  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

of  believer;  but  still  he  might  have  been  a  great  bless- 
ing to  Sodom  had  he  but  pleaded  for  it  as  he  should 
have  done.  And  poor,  poor  Christians,  as  I  fear  many 
are,  one  begins  to  value  very  truly  every  converted 
soul  in  these  evil  days,  and  to  pray  that  each  one  may 
glorify  the  Lord.  I  pray  that  every  righteous  man, 
vexed  as  he  is  with  the  conversation  of  the  wicked, 
may  be  more  importunate  in  prayer  than  he  has  ever 
been,  and  return  unto  his  God,  and  get  more  spiritual 
life,  that  he  may  be  a  blessing  to  the  perishing  people 
around  him.  I  address  you,  therefore,  at  this  time, 
first  of  all  upon  this  thought.  Oh,  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  may  make  each  one  of  you  feel  his  personal  re- 
sponsibility! 

Here  is  for  believers  in  Christ,  in  order  to  their  use- 
fulness, something  for  them  to  do:  ''Follow  Me." 
But,  secondly,  here  is  something  to  be  done  by  their 
great  Lord  and  Master:  "Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make 
you  fishers  of  men."  You  will  not  of  yourselves  grow 
into  fishers,  but  that  is  what  Jesus  will  do  for  you  if 
you  will  but  follow  Him.  And  then,  lastly,  here  is  a 
good  illustration,  used  according  to  our  great  blaster's 
wont;  for  scarcely  without  a  parable  did  He  speak 
unto  the  people.  He  presents  us  with  an  illustration 
of  what  Christian  men  should  be — fishers  of  men.  We 
may  get  some  useful  hints  out  of  it,  and  I  pray  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  bless  them  to  us. 

L  First,  then,  I  will  take  it  for  granted  that  every 
believer  here  wants  to  be  useful.  If  he  does  not,  I 
take  leave  to  question  whether  he  can  be  a  true  be- 
liever in  Christ.  Well,  then,  if  vou  want  to  be  really 
useful,  here  is  SOMETHING  FOR  YOU  TO  DO  TO 
THAT  END:  "Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make  you  fish- 
ers of  men." 

What  is  the  way  to  become  an  efificient  preacher? 


INSTRUCTION    IN  SOUL-WINNING.  277 

"Young  man,"  says  one,  "go  to  college."  "Young 
man,"  says  Christ,  "follow  Me,  and  I  will  make  you 
a  fisher  of  men."  How  is  a  person  to  be  useful?  "At- 
tend a  training  class,"  says  one.  Quite  right;  but  there 
is  a  surer  answer  than  that — Follow  Jesus,  and  He 
will  make  you  fishers  of  men.  The  great  training 
school  for  Christian  workers  has  Christ  at  its  head; 
and  He  is  at  its  head,  not  only  as  a  Tutor,  but  as  a 
Leader:  we  are  not  only  to  learn  of  Him  in  study,  but 
to  follow  Him  in  action.  "Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make 
you  fishers  of  men."  The  direction  is  very  distinct  and 
plain,  and  I  believe  that  it  is  exclusive,  so  that  no  man 
can  become  a  fisherman  by  any  other  process.  This 
process  may  appear  to  be  very  simple;  but  assuredly 
it  is  most  efficient.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  knew 
all  about  fishing  for  men,  was  Himself  the  Dictator  of 
the  rule,  "Follow  Me,  if  you  want  to  be  fishers  of  men. 
If  you  would  be  useful,  keep  in  My  track." 

I  understand  this,  first,  in  this  sense:  d^  separate 
unto  Christ.  These  men  were  lo  leave  their  pursuits; 
they  were  to  leave  their  companions;  they  were,  in 
fact,  to  c^uit  the  world,  that  their  one  business  might 
be,  in  their  Master's  name,  to  be  fishers  of  men.  We 
are  not  called  to  leave  our  daily  business,  or  to  quit 
our  families.  That  might  be  rather  running  away  from 
the  fishery  than  working  at  it  in  God's  name;  but  we 
are  called  most  distinctly  to  come  out  from  among  the 
ungodly,  and  to  be  separate,  and  not  to  toucli^the  un- 
clean thing.  We  cannot  be  fishers  of  men  if  we  re- 
main among  men  in  the  same  element  with  them.  Fish 
will  not  be  fishers.  The  sinner  will  not  convert  the 
sinner.  The  ungodly  man  will  not  convert  the  un- 
godly man;  and,  what  is  more  to  the  point,  the  world- 
ly Christian  will  not  convert  the  world.  If  you  are  of 
the  world,  no  doubt  the  world  will  love  its  own:  but 


278  THE  SOUL-WliNNER. 

you  cannot  save  the  world.  If  you  are  dark,  and  be- 
long to  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  you  cannot  remove 
the  darkness.  If  you  march  with  the  armies  of  the 
wicked  one,  you  cannot  defeat  them.  I  believe  that 
one  reason  wliy  the  Church  of  God  at  this  present  mo- 
ment has^  so  little  influence  over  the  world  is  because 
the  world  has  so  much  influence  over  the  Church. 
Nowadays,  we  hear  Nonconformists  pleading  that  they 
may  do  this,  and  they  may  do  that — things  which  their 
Puritan  forefathers  would  rather  have  died  at  the  stake 
than  have  tolerated.  They  plead  that  they  may  live 
like  worldlings,  and  my  sad  answer  to  them,  when 
they  crave  for  this  liberty,  is,  ''Do  it  if  you  dare.  It 
may  not  do  you  much  hurt,  ioryou  are  so  bad  already. 
Your  cravings  show  how  rotten  your  hearts  are.  If 
you  have  a  hungering  after  such  dog's  meat,  go,  dogs, 
and  eat  the  garbage !  Worldly  amusements  are  fit  food 
for  mere  pretenders  and  hypocrites.  If  you  were  God's 
children,  you  would  loathe  the  very  thought  of  the 
world's  evil  joys,  and  your  question  would  not  be, 
'How  far  may  we  be  like  the  world?'  but  your  one 
cry  would  be,  'How  far  can  we  get  away  from  the 
world?  How  much  can  we  come  out  from  it?'  Your 
temptation  would  be  rather  to  become  sternly  severe, 
and  ultra-Puritanical  in  your  separation  from  sin,  in 
such  a  time  as  this,  than  to  ask,  'How  can  I  make 
myself  like  other  men,  and  act  as  they  do?' " 

Brethren,  the  use  of  the  Church  in  the  world  is  that 
it  should  be  like  salt  in  the  midst  of  putrefaction ;  but  if 
the  salt  has  lost  its  savour,  what  is  the  good  of  it?  If 
it  were  possible  for  salt  itself  to  putrefy,  it  could  but 
be  an  increase  and  a  heightening  of  the  general  putrid- 
ity. The  worst  day  the  world  ever  saw  was  when  the 
sons  of  God  were  joined  with  the  daughters  of  men. 
Then  came  the  flood;    for  the  only  barrier  against  a 


liNirillU'C'ilON    IN   iSOlL-WlNNING.  279 

flood  of  vengeance  on  this  world  is  the  separation 
of  the  saint  from  the  sinner.  Your  duty  as  a  Christian 
is  to  stand  fast  in  your  own  place,  and  to  stand  out  for 
God,  hating  even  the  garment  spotted  by  the  flesh,  re- 
solving like  one  of  old  that,  let  others  do  as  they  will, 
as  for  you  and  your  house,  you  will  serve  the  Lord. 

Come,  ye  children  of  God,  you  must  stand  with  your 
Lord  outside  the  camp.  Jesus  calls  you  to-day,  and 
says,  "Follow  ]\le."  Was  Jesus  found  at  the  theatre? 
Did  He  frequent  the  sports  of  the  race-course?  Was 
Jesus  seen,  think  you,  in  any  of  the  amusements  of  the 
Herodian  court?  Not  He.  He  was  "holy,  harmless, 
undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners.''  In  one  sense, 
no  one  mixed  with  sinners  so  completely  as  He  did 
when,  like  a  physician.  He  -went  among  them  healing 
His  patients;  but,  in  another  sense,  there  was  a  gulf 
fixed  between  the  men  of  the  world  and  the  Saviour, 
W'hich  He  never  essayed  to  cross,  and  which  they  could 
not  cross  to  defile  Him. 

The  first  lesson  which  the  Church  has  to  learn  is 
this:  Follow  Jesus  into  the  separated  state,  and  He 
will  make  you  fishers  of  men.  Unless  you  take  up 
your  cross,  and  protest  against  an  ungodly  w^orld,  you 
cannot  hope  that  the  holy  Jesus  will  make  you  fishers 
of  men. 

A  second  meaning  of  our  text  is  very  obviously 
this:  abide  with  Christy  and  then  you  will  be  made 
fishers  of  men.  These  disciples  whom  Christ  called 
were  to  come  and  live  with  him.  They  were  every 
day  to  be  associated  with  him.  They  were  to  hear 
Flim  teach  publicly  the  everlasting  gospel,  and  in  ad- 
dition they  were  to  receive  choice  explanations  in  pri- 
vate of  the  Word  which  He  had  spoken.  They  were 
to  be  His  body-servants  and  His  familiar  friends.  They 
w-ere  to  see  His  miracles  and  hear  His  prayers;   and. 


280  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

better  still,  they  were  to  be  with  Himself,  and  become 
one  with  Him  in  His  holy  labour.  It  was  given  to 
them  to  sit  at  the  table  with  Him,  and  even  to  have 
their  feet  washed  by  Him.  Many  of  them  fulfilled  that 
word,  "Where  thou  dwellest,  I  will  dwell":  they  were 
with  Him  in  His  afHictions  and  persecutions.  They 
witnessed  His  secret  agonies,  they  saw  His  many  tears, 
they  marked  the  passion  and  the  compassion  of  His 
soul,  and  thus,  after  their  measure,  they  caught  His 
spirit,  and  so  they  learned  to  be  fishers  of  men 

At  Jesus'  feet  we  must  learn  the  art  and  mystery 
of  soul-winning:  to  live  with  Christ  is  the  best  educa- 
tion for  usefulness.  It  is  a  great  boon  to  any  man 
to  be  associated  with  a  Christian  minister  whose  heart 
is  on  fire.  The  best  training  for  a  young  man  is  that 
which  the  Vaudois  pastors  were  wont  to  give,  when 
each  old  man  had  a  young  man  with  him  who  walked 
with  him  whenever  he  went  up  the  mountain-side  to 
preach,  and  lived  in  the  house  with  him,  and  marked 
his  prayers,  and  saw  his  daily  piety.  This  was  a  fine 
course  of  instruction,  was  it  not?  But  it  will  not  com- 
pare with  that  of  the  apostles  who  lived  with  Jesus 
Himself,  and  were  His  daily  companions.  Matchless 
was  the  training  of  the  twelve.  No  wonder  that  they 
became  what  they  were  with  such  a  heavenly  Tutor  to 
saturate  them  with  His  own  spirit.  His  bodily  pres- 
ence is  not  now  among  us;  but  His  spiritual  power  is 
perhaps  more  fully  known  to  us  than  it  was  to  the 
apostles  in  those  two  or  three  years  of  the  Lord's  cor- 
poreal presence.  There  be  some  of  us  to  whom  He  is 
intimately  near.  We  know  more  about  Him  than 
we  do  about  our  dearest  earthly  friend.  We  have 
never  been  able  (julte  to  read  our  friend's  heart  in  all 
its  twistings  and  windings,  but  we  know  the  heart  of 
the  Well-beloved.    We  have  leaned  our  head  upon  His 


INSTRUCTION    IN  80UL-WINNIN0.  281 

bosom,  and  have  enjoyed  fellowship  with  liini  sueh 
as  we  could  not  have  with  any  of  our  own  kith  and  kin. 
This  is  the  surest  method  of  learning  how  to  do  good. 
Live  with  Jesus,  follow  Jesus,  and  He  will  make  you 
fishers  of  men.  See  how  He  does  the  work,  and  so 
learn  how  to  do  it  yourself.  A  Christian  man  should 
be  bound  apprentice  to  Jesus  to  learn  the  trade  of  a 
Saviour.  We  can  never  save  men  by  offering  a  re- 
demption, for  we  have  none  to  present;  but  we  can 
learn  how  to  save  men  by  warning  them  to  flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come,  and  setting  before  them  the  one 
great  eiTectual  remedy.  See  how^  Jesus  saves,  and  you 
will  learn  how  the  thing  is  done:  there  is  no  learning 
it  anyhow  else.  Live  in  fellowship  with  Christ,  and 
there  shall  be  about  you  an  air  and  a  manner  as  of  one 
who  has  been  made  in  heart  and  mind  apt  to  teach,  and 
wnse  to  win  souls. 

A  third  meaning,  however,  must  be  given  to  this 
"Follow  Me,"  and  it  is  this:  ^' Obey  Me,  and  then  you 
shall  know  what  to  do  to  save  men."  We  nmst  not 
talk  about  our  fellowship  with  Christ,  or  our  being 
separated  from  the  world  unto  Him,  unless  we  make 
Him  our  Master  and  Lord  in  everything.  Some  pub- 
lic teachers  are  not  true  at  all  points  to  their  convic- 
tions; how  can  they  look  for  a  blessing?  A  Christian 
man,  anxious  to  be  useful,  ought  to  be  very  particular 
as  to  every  point  of  obedience  to  his  Master.  I  have 
no  doubt  whatever  that  God  blesses  our  churches  even 
when  they  are  very  faulty,  for  His  mercy  endureth  for 
ever.  When  there  is  a  measure  of  error  in  the  teach- 
ing, and  a  measure  of  mistake  in  the  practice.  He  ma\- 
still  vouchsafe  to  use  the  ministry,  for  He  is  very  gra- 
cious; but  a  large  measure  of  blessing  nuist  neces- 
sarily be  withheld  from  all  teaching  which  is  knowing- 
ly or  glaringly  faulty.     God  can  set  His  seal  upon 


282  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

the  truth  that  is  in  it,  but  He  cannot  set  His  seal  upon 
the  error  that  is  in  it.  Out  of  mistakes  about  Christian 
ordinances  and  other  things,  especially  errors  in  heart 
and  spirit,  there  may  come  evils  which  we  never  looked 
for.  Such  evils  may  even  now  be  telling  upon  the  pres- 
ent age,  and  may  work  worse  mischief  upon  future  gen- 
erations. 

If  we  desire,  as  fishers  of  men,  to  be  largely  used  of 
God,  we  must  copy  our  Lord  Jesus  in  everything  and 
obey  Him  in  every  point.  Failure  in  obedience  may 
lead  to  failure  in  success.  Each  one  of  us,  if  he  would 
wish  to  see  his  child  saved,  or  his  Sunday-school  class 
blessed,  or  his  congregation  converted,  must  take  care 
that,  bearing  the  vessels  of  the  Lord,  he  is  himself  clean. 
Anything  we  do  that  grieves  the  Spirit  of  God  must 
take  away  from  us  some  part  of  our  power  for  good. 
The  Lord  is  very  gracious  and  pitiful;  but  yet  He  is  a 
jealous  God.  He  is  sometimes  sternly  jealous  towards 
His  people  who  are  living  in  neglect  of  known  duty,  or 
in  associations  which  are  not  clean  in  His  sight.  He 
will  wither  their  work,  weaken  their  strength,  and  hum- 
ble them  until  at  last  they  each  one  say,  *'My  Lord,  I 
will  take  Thy  way  after  all.  I  will  do  what  Thou  bid- 
dest  me  to  do,  for  else  Thou  wilt  not  accept  me."  The 
Lord  said  to  His  disciples,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature:  he  that  be- 
lieveth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved" ;  and  He  prom- 
ised them  that  signs  should  follow,  and  so  they  did  fol- 
low, and  so  they  will.  But  we  must  get  back  to  apos- 
tolic practice  and  to  apostolic  teaching;  we  must  lay 
aside  the  commandments  of  men  and  the  whimseys  of 
our  own  brains,  and  we  must  do  what  Christ  tells  us, 
as  Christ  tells  us,  and  because  Christ  tells  us.  Definite- 
ly and  distinctly,  we  must  take  the  place  of  servants; 
and  if  we  will  not  do  that,  we  cannot  expect  our  Lord 


INSTRUCTION    IN  iSOUL-WlNNlNG.  2»3 

to  work  with  us  and  by  us.  Let  us  bo  determined  that, 
as  true  as  the  needle  is  to  the  pole,  so  true  will  we  be, 
as  far  as  our  light  goes,  to  the  command  of  our  Lord 
and  Master.  Jesus  says,  'ToUow  ]\le,  and  1  will  make 
you  fishers  of  men."  By  this  teaching  He  seems  to 
say,  "Go  beyond  Me,  or  fall  back  away  from  Me, 
and  you  may  cast  the  net;  but  it  shall  be  night  with 
you,  and  that  night  you  shall  take  nothing.  When  you 
shall  do  as  I  bid  you,  you  shall  cast  your  net  on  the 
right  side  of  the  ship,  and  you  shall  find." 

Again,  I  think  that  there  is  a  great  lesson  in  my 
text  to  those  who  preach  their  own  thoughts  instead 
of  preaching  the  thoughts  of  Christ.  These  disciples 
were  to  follow  Christ  that  they  might  listen  to  Him, 
hear  what  He  had  to  say,  drink  in  His  teaching,  and 
then  go  and  teach  what  He  had  taught  them.  Their 
Lord  said,  "What  I  tell  you  in  darkness,  that  speak 
ye  in  light:  and  what  ye  hear  in  the  ear,  that  preach  ye 
upon  the  housetops."  If  they  will  be  faithful  reporters 
of  Christ's  message,  He  will  make  them  "fishers  of 
men."  But  you  know  the  boastful  method,  nowadays, 
is  this:  "I  am  not  going  to  preach  this  old,  old  gospel, 
this  musty  Puritan  doctrine.  I  will  sit  down  in  my 
study,  and  burn  the  midnight  oil,  and  invent  a  new 
theory:  then  I  will  come  out  with  my  brand-new 
thought,  and  blaze  away  with  it."  Many  are  not  fol- 
lowing Christ,  but  following  themselves,  and  of  them 
the  Lord  may  well  say.  "Thou  shalt  see  whose  word 
shall  stand,  Mine  or  theirs."  Others  are  wickedly  pru- 
dent, and  judge  that  certain  truths  which  are  evident- 
ly God's  Word,  had  better  be  kept  back.  You  must 
not  be  rough,  but  must  prophesy  smooth  things.  To 
talk  about  the  punishment  of  sin,  to  speak  of  eternal 
punishment,  why,  these  are  unfashionable  doctrines. 
It  may  be  that  they  are  taught  in  the  Word  of  God, 


284  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

but  they  do  not  suit  the  genius  of  the  age;  we  must 
pare  them  down!  Brothers  in  Christ,  I  will  have  no 
share  in  this.  Will  you?  O  my  soul,  come  not  thou 
into  their  secret!  Certain  things  not  taught  in  the 
Bible  our  enlightened  age  has  discovered.  Evolution 
may  be  clean  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  Genesis,  but 
that  does  not  matter.  We  are  not  going  to  be  believers 
of  Scripture,  but  original  thinkers.  This  is  the  vain- 
glorious ambition  of  the  period. 

Mark  you,  in  proportion  as  the  modern  theology  is 
preached,  the  vice  of  this  generation  increases.  To  a 
great  degree,  I  attribute  the  looseness  of  the  age  to 
the  laxity  of  the  doctrine  preached  by  its  teachers.  From 
the  pulpit  they  have  taught  the  people  that  sin  is  a 
trifle.  From  the  pulpit  these  traitors  to  God  and  to 
His  Christ  have  taught  the  people  that  there  is  no  hell 
to  be  feared.  A  little,  little  hell,  perhaps,  there  may 
be;  but  just  punishment  for  sin  is  made  nothing  of. 
The  precious  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ  has  been  de- 
rided and  misrepresented  by  those  who  were  pledged 
to  preach  it.  They  have  given  the  people  the  name  of 
the  gospel,  but  the  gospel  itself  has  evaporated  in  their 
hands.  From  hundreds  of  pulpits  the  gospel  is  as  clean 
gone  as  the  dodo  from  its  old  haunts;  and  still  the 
preachers  take  the  position  and  name  of  Christ's  min- 
isters. Well,  and  what  comes  of  it?  Why,  their  congre- 
gations grow  thinner  and  thinner;  and  so  it  must  be. 
Jesus  says,  "Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of 
men ;"  but  if  you  go  in  your  own  way,  with  your  own 
net,  you  will  make  nothing  of  it,  and  the  Lord  promises 
you  no  help  in  it.  The  Lord's  directions  make  Himself 
our  Leader  and  Example.  It  is  "Follow  Me;  follow  Me. 
Preach  My  gospel.  Preach  what  I  preached.  Teach 
what  I  taught,  and  keep  to  that."  With  that  blessed 
servility  which  becomes  one  whose  ambition  it  is  to  be 


INSTRUCTION   IN  SOUL-WINNING.  285 

a  copyist,  and  never  to  be  an  original,  copy  Christ  even 
in  jots  and  tittles.  Do  this,  and  He  will  make  you 
fishers  of  men;  but  if  you  do  not  do  this,  you  shall  fish 
in  vain. 

I  close  this  head  of  my  discourse  by  saying  that  we 
shall  not  be  fishers  of  men  unless  we  follow  Christ  in 
one  other  respect;  and  that  is,  by  endeavouring,  in 
all  points  to  imitate  His  holiiiess.  Holiness  is  the 
most  real  power  that  can  be  possessed  by  men  or 
women.  We  may  preach  orthodoxy,  but  we  must 
also  live  orthodoxy.  God  forbid  that  we  should  preach 
anything  else;  but  it  will  be  all  in  vain,  unless  there 
is  a  life  at  the  back  of  the  testimony.  An  unholy 
preacher  may  even  render  truth  contemptible.  In  pro- 
portion as  any  of  us  draw  back  from  a  living  and  zeal- 
ous sanctification,  we  shall  draw  back  from  the  place 
of  pow-er.  Our  power  lies  in  this  word,  "Follow  Me." 
Be  Jesus-like.  In  all  things  endeavour  to  think,  and 
speak,  and  act  as  Jesus  did,  and  He  will  make  you  fish- 
ers of  men.  This  will  require  self-denial.  We  must 
daily  take  up  the  cross.  This  may  require  willingness 
to  give  up  our  reputation — readiness  to  be  thought 
fools,  idiots,  and  the  like,  as  men  are  apt  to  call  those 
wdio  are  keeping  close  to  their  Alaster.  There  must  be 
the  cheerful  resigning  of  everything  that  looks  like 
honour  and  personal  glory,  in  order  that  we  may  be 
wholly  Christ's,  and  glorify  His  name.  We  must  live 
His  life,  and  be  ready  to  die  His  death,  if  need  be.  O 
brothers,  sisters,  if  we  do  this,  and  follow  Jesus,  putting 
our  feet  into  the  footprints  of  His  pierced  feet.  He  will 
make  us  fishers  of  men !  If  it  should  so  please  Him  that 
we  should  even  die  without  having  gathered  many 
souls  to  the  cross,  we  shall  speak  from  our  graves.  In 
some  way  or  other,  the  Lord  will  make  a  holy  life  to  be 
an  influential  life.     It  is  not  possible  that  a  life  which 


286  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

can  be  described  as  a  following  of  Christ  should  be  an 
unsuccessful  one  in  the  sight  of  the  Most  High.  "Fol- 
low Me,"  and  there  is  an  "I  will"  such  as  God  can 
never  draw  back  from:  "Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make 
you  fishers  of  men." 

Thus  much  on  the  first  point.  There  is  something 
for  us  to  do:  we  are  graciously  called  to  follow  Jesus. 
Holy  Spirit,  lead  us  to  do  it! 

H.  But,  secondly,  and  brieflv,  there  is  SOME- 
THING FOR  THE  LORD  TO  DO.  When  His  dear 
servants  are  following  Him,  He  says,  *T  will  make  you 
fishers  of  men;"  and  be  it  never  forgotten  that  it  is  He 
that  makes  us  follow  Him;  so  that,  if  the  following  of 
Him  be  the  step  to  being  made  a  fisher  of  men,  yet  this 
He  gives  us.  'Tis  all  of  His  Spirit.  I  have  talked 
about  catching  His  spirit,  and  abiding  in  Him,  and 
obeying  Him,  and  hearkening  to  Him,  and  copying 
Him;  but  none  of  these  things  are  we  capable  of  apart 
from  His  working  them  all  in  us.  "From  Me  is  thy  fruit 
found,"  is  a  text  which  we  must  not  for  a  moment  for- 
get. So,  then,  if  we  do  follow  Him;  it  is  He  that 
makes  us  follow  Him;  and  so  He  makes  us  fishers  of 
men. 

But,  further,  if  we  follow  Christ,  He  will  make  us 
fishers  of  men  by  all  our  experiefice.  I  am  sure  that 
the  man  who  is  really  consecrated  to  bless  others  will 
be  helped  in  this  by  all  that  he  feels,  especially  by  his 
afiflictions.  I  often  feel  very  grateful  to  God  that  I  have 
undergone  fearful  depression  of  spirits.  I  know  the 
borders  of  despair,  and  the  horrible  brink  of  that  gulf 
of  darkness  into  which  my  feet  have  almost  gone ;  but 
hundreds  of  times  I  have  been  able  to  give  a  helpful 
grip  to  brethren  and  sisters  who  have  come  into  that 
same  condition,  which  grip  I  could  never  have  given  if 
I  had  not  known  their  deep  despondency.     So  I  be- 


rNFITRUCTION    IN  SOUL-WINNING.  287 

li.jVL-  that  the  darkest  and  most  dreadful  experience  of 
a  child  (^f  Ciod  will  helj)  him  to  be  a  fisher  of  men  if  he 
will  but  follow  Christ.  Keep  close  to  your  Lord, 
and  He  will  make  every  step  a  blessing  to  you.  If 
God  in  providence  should  make  you  rich,  He  will  fit 
you  to  speak  to  those  ignorant  and  wicked  rich  who 
so  much  abound  in  this  city,  and  so  often  are  the  cause 
of  its  worst  sin.  And  if  the  Lord  is  pleased  to  let  you 
be  poor,  you  can  go  down  and  talk  to  those  wicked 
and  ignorant  poor  people  w^ho  so  often  are  the  cause 
of  sin  in  this  city,  and  so  greatly  need  the  gospel.  The 
winds  of  providence  will  waft  you  where  you  can  fish 
for  men.  The  wdieels  of  providence  are  full  of  eyes, 
and  all  those  eyes  wall  look  this  way  to  help  us  to  be 
winners  of  souls.  You  wall  often  be  surprised  to  find 
how^  God  has  been  in  a  house  that  you  visit:  before  you 
get  there.  His  hand  has  been  at  work  in  its  chambers. 
When  you  wish  to  speak  to  some  particular  individual, 
God's  providence  has  been  dealing  with  that  individual 
to  make  him  ready  for  just  that  word  which  you  could 
say,  but  which  nobody  else  but  you  could  say.  Oh, 
be  you  following  Christ,  and  you  will  find  that  He  will, 
by  every  experience  througli  which  you  are  passing, 
make  you  fishers  of  men! 

Further  than  that,  if  you  will  follow  Him,  He  will 
make  you  fishers  of  men  by  distiuit  motiitions  in  your 
heart.  There  are  many  monitions  from  God's  Spirit 
which  are  not  noticed  by  Christians  when  they  are  in 
a  callous  condition;  but  when  the  heart  is  right  with 
God,  and  living  in  communion  with  God,  we  feel  a 
sacred  sensitiveness,  so  that  we  do  not  need  the  Lord 
to  shout,  but  His  faintest  whisper  is  heard.  Nay,  he 
need  not  even  whisper.  He  will  guide  us  with  His 
eye.  Oh,  how  many  mulish  Christians  there  are,  who 
must  be  held  in  with  bit  and  bridle,  and  receive  a  cut 


288  THE  SOITT. -WINNER. 

c)f  the  wliip  every  now  and  then!  But  the  Christian 
who  follows  his  Lord  shall  be  tenderly  guided.  I  do 
not  say  that  the  Spirit  of  God  will  say  to  you,  "Go 
near,  and  join  thyself  to  this  chariot,"  or  that  you  will 
hear  a  word  in  your  ear;  but  yet  in  your  soul,  as  dis- 
tinctly as  the  Spirit  said  to  Philip,  "Go  near,  and  join 
thyself  to  this  chariot,"  you  shall  hear  the  Lord's  will. 
As  soon  as  you  see  an  individual,  the  thought  shall 
cross  your  mind,  "Go  and  speak  to  that  person."  Every 
opportunity  of  usefulness  shall  be. a  call  to  you.  If 
you  are  ready,  the  door  shall  open  before  you,  and  you 
shall  hear  a  voice  behind  you  saying,  "This  is  the  way; 
walk  ye  in  it."  If  you  have  the  grace  to  run  in  the 
right  way,  you  shall  never  be  long  without  an  intima- 
tion as  to  what  the  right  way  is.  That  right  way  shall 
lead  you  to  river  or  sea,  where  you  can  cast  your  net, 
and  be  a  fisher  of  men. 

Then,  too,  I  believe  that  the  Lord  meant  by  this 
that  He  would  give  His  followers  the  Holy  Ghost. 
They  were  to  follow  Him,  and  then,  when  they  had 
seen  Him  ascend  into  the  holy  place  of  the  Most  High, 
they  were  to  tarry  at  Jerusalem  for  a  little  while,  and 
the  Spirit  would  come  upon  them,  and  clothe  them  with 
a  mysterious  power.  This  Word  was  spoken  to  Peter 
and  Andrew;  and  you  know  how  it  was  fulfilled  to 
Peter.  What  a  host  of  fish  he  brought  to  land  the 
first  time  he  cast  the  net  in  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost!  "Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of 
men." 

Brethren,  we  have  no  conception  of  what  God  could 
do  by  this  company  of  believers  gathered  in  the  Taber- 
nacle to-night.  If  now  we  were  to  be  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  there  are  enough  of  us  to  evangelize  Lon- 
don. There  are  enough  here  to  be  the  means  of  the 
salvation  of  the  world.    God  saveth  not  by  many  nor 


INSTRUCTION   IN  SOUL-WINNING.  289 

by  few.  Let  us  seek  to  be  made  a  benediction  to  our 
fellow-creatures;  and  if  we  seek  it,  let  us  hear  this 
directing  voice,  "Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make  you 
fishers  of  men."  You  men  and  women  that  sit  before 
me,  you  are  by  the  shore  of  a  great  sea  of  human  life 
swarming  with  the  souls  of  men.  You  live  in  the  midst 
of  millions;  but  if  you  will  follow  Jesus,  and  be  faith- 
ful to  Him,  and  true  to  Him,  and  do  what  He  bids 
you,  He  will  make  you  fishers  of  men.  Do  not  say, 
"Who  shall  save  this  city?"  The  weakest  shall  Se 
strong  enough.  Gideon's  barley  cake  shall  smite  the 
tent,  and  make  it  lie  along  the  ground.  Samson,  with 
the  jawbone,  taken  up  from  the  earth  where  it  was  lying 
bleaching  in  the  sun,  shall  smite  the  Philistines.  Fear 
not,  neither  be  dismayed.  Let  your  responsibilities 
drive  you  closer  to  your  Master.  Let  horror  of  pre- 
vailing sin  make  you  look  into  His  dear  face  who  long 
ago  wept  over  Jerusalem,  and  now  weeps  over  Lon- 
don. Clasp  Him,  and  never  let  go  your  hold.  By  the 
strong  and  mighty  impulses  of  the  divine  life  within 
you,  quickened  and  brought  to  maturity  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  learn  this  lesson  from  your  Lord's  owii  mouth : 
''Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men." 
You  are  not  fit  for  it,  but  He  will  make  you  fit.  You 
cannot  do  it  of  yourselves,  but  He  will  make  you  do 
it.  You  do  not  know  how  to  spread  nets  and  draw 
shoals  of  fish  to  shore,  but  He  will  teach  you.  Only 
follow  Him,  and  He  will  make  you  fishers  of  men. 

I  wish  that  I  could  somehow  say  this  as  with  a 
voice  of  thunder,  that  the  whole  Church  of  God  might 
hear  it.  I  wish  I  could  write  it  in  stars  athwart  the 
sky,  "J^sus  saith.  Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make  you 
fishers  of  men."  If  you  forget  the  precept,  the  prom- 
ise shall  never  be  yours.  If  you  follow  some  other 
track,  or  imitate  some  other  leader,  vou  shall  fi^li  in 


290  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

vain.  God  grant  us  to  believe  fully  that  Jesus  can  do 
great  things  in  us,  and  then  do  great  things  by  us  for 
the  good  of  our  fellows ! 

III.  The  last  point  you  might  work  out  in  full  for 
yourselves  in  vour  private  meditations  with  much  profit. 
We  have  here  A  FIGURE  FULL  OF  INSTRUC- 
TION. I  will  give  you  but  two  or  three  thoughts 
which  you  can  use.  **I  will  make  yon  fo/iers  of  men.''* 
You  have  been  fishers  of  fish :  if  you  follow  Me,  I  will 
make  you  fishers  of  men. 

A  fisher  is  a  person  who  is  very  dependent  and  needs 
to  be  trustful.  He  cannot  see  the  fish.  One  who  fishes 
in  the  sea  must  go  and  cast  in  the  net,  as  it  were,  at 
a  peradventure.  Fishing  is  an  act  of  faith.  I  have  often 
seen,  in  the  Mediterranean,  men  go  with  their  boats, 
and  enclose  acres  of  sea  with  vast  nets;  and  yet,  when 
they  have  drawn  the  net  to  shore,  they  have  not  had 
as  much  result  as  I  could  put  in  my  hand.  A  few 
wretched  silvery  nothings  have  made  up  the  whole 
take.  Yet  they  have  gone  again,  and  cast  the  great 
net  several  times  a  day,  hopefully  expecting  something 
to  come  of  it.  Nobody  is  so  dependent  upon  God  as 
the  minister  of  God.  Oh,  this  fishing  from  the  Taber- 
nacle pulpit!  What  a  work  of  faith!  I  cannot  tell  that 
a  soul  will  be  brought  to  God  by  it.  I  cannot  judge 
whether  my  sermon  will  be  suitable  to  the  persons  who 
are  here,  except  that  I  do  believe  that  God  will  guide 
me  in  the  casting  of  the  net.  I  expect  Him  to  work 
salvation,  and  I  depend  upon  Him  for  it.  I  love  this 
complete  dependence,  and  if  I  could  be  offered  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  preaching  power,  VN^hich  should  be  en- 
tirely at  my  own  disposal,  and  by  which  I  could  save 
sinners,  I  w^ould  beg  the  Lord  not  to  let  me  have  it, 
for  it  is  far  more  delightful  to  be  entirely  dependent 
upon  Him  at  all  times.     It  is  good  to  be  a  fool  when 


INSTRUCTION    IN  SOUL-WINNING.  201 

Christ  is  made  unto  you  wisdom.  It  is  a  blessed  tiling; 
to  be  weak  if  Christ  becomes  more  fully  your  strength. 
Go  to  work,  you  who  would  be  fishers  of  men,  and  yet 
feel  your  insuflficiency.  You  that  have  no  strenglli,  at- 
tempt this  (Hvine  work.  Your  Master's  strength  will  be 
seen  when  your  own  has  all  gone.  A  fisherman  is  a  de- 
pendent person,  he  must  look  up  for  success  every 
time  he  puts  the  net  down;  but  still  he  is  a  trustful 
person,  and  therefore  he  casts  in  the  net  joyfully, 

A  fisherman  who  gets  his  living  by  it  is  a  dilii^ejit 
and  persevering  man.  The  fishers  are  up  at  dawn. 
At  day-break  our  fishermen  of¥  the  Dogger-bank  are 
fishing,  and  they  continue  fishing  till  late  in  the  after- 
noon. As  long  as  hands  can  w^ork,  men  will  fish.  May 
the  Lord  Jesus  make  us  hard-working,  persevering, 
unwearied  fishers  of  men!  "In  the  morning  sow  thy 
seed,  and  in  the  evening  withhold  not  thine  hand;  for 
thou  knowest  not  whether  shall  prosper,  either  this  or 
that." 

The  fisherman  in  his  o\vn  craft  is  intcUigcnt  and 
watchful.  It  looks  very  easy,  I  dare  say,  to  be  a  fisher- 
man, but  you  would  find  that  it  was  no  child's  play 
if  you  were  to  take  a  real  part  in  it.  There  is  an 
art  in  it,  from  the  mending  of  the  net  right  on  to  the 
pulling  it  to  shore.  How  diligent  the  fisherman  is  to 
prevent  the  fish  leaping  out  of  the  net!  I  heard  a 
great  noise  one  night  in  the  sea,  as  if  some  huge  drum 
were  being  beaten  by  a  giant;  and  I  looked  out,  and 
I  saw  that  the  fishermen  of  Mentone  were  beating  the 
water  to  drive  the  fish  into  the  net,  or  to  keep  them 
from  leaping  out  when  they  had  once  encompassed 
them  with  it.  Ah,  yes!  and  you  and  I  will  often 
have  to  be  watching  the  corners  of  the  gospel  net  lest 
sinners  who  are  almost  caught  should  make  their  es- 
cape.    Thev  are  very  crafty,  these  fish,  and  they  use 


292  THE  SCUL-WINNER. 

this  craftiness  in  endeavouring  to  avoid  salvation.  We 
shall  have  to  be  always  at  our  business,  and  to  exercise 
all  our  wits,  and  more  than  our  own  wits,  if  we  are  to 
be  successful  fishers  of  men. 

The  fisherman  is  a  very  laborious  person.  It  is  not 
at  all  an  easy  calling.  He  does  not  sit  in  an  armchair 
and  catch  fish.  He  has  to  go  out  in  rough  weathers. 
If  he  that  regardeth  the  clouds  will  not  sow,  I  am  sure 
that  he  that  regardeth  the  clouds  will  never  fish.  If 
we  never  do  any  work  for  Christ  except  when  we  feel 
up  to  the  mark,  we  shall  not  do  much.  If  we  feel  that 
we  will  not  pray  because  we  cannot  pray,  we  shall  never 
pray;  and  if  we  say,  "I  will  not  preach  to-day  because 
I  do  not  feel  that  I  could  preach,"  we  shall  never  preach 
any  preaching  that  is  worth  the  preaching.  We  must 
be  always  at  it,  until  we  wear  ourselves  out,  throwing 
our  whole  soul  into  the  work  in  all  weathers,  for 
Christ's  sake. 

The  fisherman  is  a  daringvian.  He  tempts  the  bois- 
terous sea.  A  little  brine  in  his  face  does  not  hurt  him; 
he  has  been  wet  through  a  thousand  times,  it  is  noth- 
ing to  him.  He  never  expected,  when  he  became  a 
deep-sea  fisherman,  that  he  was  going  to  sleep  in  the 
lap  of  ease.  So  the  true  minister  of  Christ,  who  fishes 
for  souls,  will  never  mind  a  little  risk.  He  will  be 
bound  to  do  or  say  many  a  thing  that  is  very  unpopu- 
lar; and  some  Christian  people  may  even  judge  his 
utterances  to  be  too  severe.  He  must  do  and  say  that 
which  is  for  the  good  of  souls.  It  is  not  his  to  enter- 
tain a  question  as  to  what  others  will  think  of  his  doc- 
trine, or  of  him ;  but  in  the  name  of  the  Almighty  God 
he  must  feel,  "If  the  sea  roar  and  the  fulness  thereof, 
still  at  my  Master's  command  I  will  let  down  the  net." 

Now,  in  the  last  place,  the  man  whom  Christ  makes 
2i^'&\iQtoivci^x\  is  successful.      ''But,  "says  one,  *'Ihave 


INSTRUCTION  IN  SOUL-WINNING.  293 

always  heard  that  Christ's  ministers  are  to  be  faithful, 
but  that  they  cannot  be  sure  of  being  successful,"  Yes, 
I  have  heard  that  saying,  and  one  way  I  know  it  is  true, 
but  another  way  I  have  my  doubts  about  it.  He  that 
is  faithful  is,  in  God's  way  and  in  God's  judgment,  suc- 
cetesful,  more  or  less.  For  instance,  here  is  a  brother 
who  says  that  he  is  faithful.  Of  course,  I  must  believe 
him,  yet  I  never  heard  of  a  sinner  being  saved  under 
him.  Indeed,  I  should  think  that  the  safest  place  for 
a  person  to  be  in  if  he  did  not  want  to  be  saved  would 
l)e  under  this  gentleman's  ministry,  because  he  does  not 
preach  anything  that  is  likely  to  arouse,  impress,  or 
convince  anybody.  This  brother  is  "faithful;"  so  he 
says.  Well,  if  any  person  in  the  world  said  to  you, 
*T  am  a  fisherman,  but  I  have  never  caught  anything," 
you  would  wonder  how  he  could  be  called  a  fisherman. 
A  farmer  who  never  grew  any  wheat,  or  any  other 
crop — is  he  a  farmer?  When  Jesus  Christ  says,  "Fol- 
low ^le,  and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men,"  He  means 
that  you  shall  really  catch  men,  that  you  really  shall 
save  some;  for  he  that  never  did  get  any  fish  is  not  a 
fisherman.  He  that  never  saved  a  sinner  after  years 
of  work  is  not  a  minister  of  Christ.  If  the  result  of 
his  life-work  is  ////,  he  made  a  mistake  when  he  under- 
took it.  Go  thou  with  the  fire  of  God  in  thy  hand,  and 
fling  it  among  the  stubble,  and  the  stubble  will  burn. 
Be  thou  sure  of  that.  Go  thou  and  scatter  the  good 
seed;  it  may  not  all  fall  in  fruitful  places,  but  some  of 
it  will.  Be  thou  sure  of  that.  Do  but  shine,  and  some 
eye  or  other  will  be  lightened  thereby.  Thou  must, 
thou  shalt  succeed.  But  remember  this  is  the  Lord's 
word,  "Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men." 
Keep  close  to  Jesus,  and  do  as  Jesus  did,  in  His  spirit, 
and  He  will  make  you  fishers  of  men. 

Perhaps  I  speak  to  an  attentive  hearer  who  is  not 


294  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

converted  at  all.  Friend,  1  have  the  same  thing  to 
say  to  you.  You  also  may  follow  Christ,  and  then 
He  can  use  you,  even  you.  I  do  not  know  but  that  He 
has  brought  you  to  this  place  that  you  may  be  saved, 
and  that  in  after  years  He  may  make  you  speak  for 
His  name  and  glory.  Remember  how  He  called  S^ul 
of  Tarsus,  and  made  him  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 
Reclaimed  poachers  make  the  best  game-keepers;  and 
saved  sinners  make  the  ablest  preachers.  Oh,  that  you 
would  run  away  from  your  old  master  to-night,  with- 
out giving  him  a  minute's  notice;  for  if  you  give  him 
any  notice,  he  will  hold  you.  Hasten  to  Jesus,  and  say, 
"Here  is  a  poor  runaway  slave!  My  Lord,  I  bear  the 
fetters  still  upon  my  wrists.  Wilt  Thou  set  me  free, 
and  make  me  Thine  own?"  Remember,  it  is  written, 
"Him  that  cometh  to  Me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 
Never  runaway  slave  came  to  Christ  in  the  middle  of 
the  night  without  His  taking  him  in!  and  He  never 
gave  one  up  to  his  old  master.  If  Jesus  make  you  free, 
you  shall  be  free  indeed.  Flee  away  to  Jesus,  then, 
on  a  sudden.  May  His  good  Spirit  help  you,  and  He 
will  by-and-by  make  you  a  winner  of  others  to  His 
praise !    God  bless  you !    Amen. 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL-WINNERS. 


Brethren,  if  any  of  you  do  err  from  the  truth,  and  one 
convert  him;  let  him  know,  that  he  which  converteth  the 
sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way  shall  save  a  soul  from 
death,  and  shall  hide  a  multitude  of  sins." — James  v.  19,  20. 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL- 
WINNERS. 


James  is  pre-eminently  practical.  If  he  were,  in- 
deed, the  James  who  was  called  "The  Just,"  I  can  un- 
derstand how  he  earned  the  title,  for  that  distinguish- 
ing trait  in  his  character  shows  itself  in  his  Epistle; 
and  if  he  were  *'the  Lord's  brother,"  he  did  well  to 
show  so  close  a  resemblance  to  his  great  Relative  and 
Master,  who  commenced  His  Ministry  with  the  prac- 
tical Sermon  on  the  i\lount.  We  ought  to  be  very 
grateful  that,  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  we  have  food  for 
all  classes  of  believers,  and  employment  for  all  the 
faculties  of  the  saints.  It  was  meet  that  the  contem- 
plative should  be  furnished  with  abundant  sul)jects  for 
thought — Paul  has  supplied  them;  he  has  given  to  us 
sound  doctrine,  arranged  in  the  symmetry  of  exact 
order;  he  has  given  us  deep  thoughts  and  profound 
teachings;  he  has  opened  up  the  deep  things  of  God. 
No  man  who  is  inclined  to  reflection  and  thoughtful- 
ness  will  be  without  food  so  long  as  the  Epistles  of  Paul 
are  extant,  for  he  feeds  the  soul  with  sacred  manna. 
For  those  whose  predominating  affections  and  imagina- 
tion incline  them  to  more  mystic  themes,  John  has  writ- 
ten sentences  aglow  with  devotion,  and  blazing  with 
love.  We  have  his  simple  but  sublime  Epistles — Epis- 
tles which,  when  you  glance  at  them,  seem  in  their 
wording  to  be  fit  for  children,  but  when  examined,  their 


298  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

sense  is  seen  to  be  too  sublime  to  be  fully  grasped  by 
the  most  advanced  of  men.  You  have  from  that  same 
eagle-eyed  and  eagle-winged  apostle  the  wondrous 
visions  of  the  Revelation,  where  awe,  devotion  and 
imagination  may  enlarge  their  flight,  and  find  scope 
for  the  fullest  exercise. 

There  will  always  be,  however,  a  class  of  persons  who 
are  more  practical  than  contemplative,  more  active 
than  imaginative,  and  it  was  wise  that  there  should  be  a 
James,  whose  main  point  should  be  to  stir  up  their 
pure  minds  by  way  of  remembrance,  and  help  them 
to  persevere  in  the  practical  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
The  text  before  me  is  perhaps  the  most  practical  utter- 
ance of  the  whole  Epistle.  The  whole  Epistle  burns, 
but  this  ascends  in  flames  to  heaven ;  it  is  the  culmina- 
tion as  it  is  the  conclusion  of  the  letter.  There  is  not 
a  word  to  spare  in  it.  It  is  like  a  naked  sword,  stripped 
of  its  jewelled  scabbard,  and  presented  to  us  with  noth- 
ing to  note  but  its  keen  edge.  I  wish  I  could  preach 
after  the  fashion  of  the  text ;  and  if  I  cannot,  I  will  at 
least  pray  that  you  may  act  after  the  fashion  of  it.  Down- 
right living  for  the  Lord  Jesus  is  sadly  wanted  in  many 
quarters ;  we  have  enough  of  Christian  garnishing,  but 
solid,  every-day,  actual  work  for  God  is  what  we  need. 
If  our  lives,  however  unornamented  they  may  be  by 
leaves  of  literary  or  polite  attainments,  shall  neverthe- 
less bring  forth  fruit  unto  God  in  the  form  of  souls 
converted  by  our  efforts,  it  will  be  well ;  they  will  then 
stand  forth  before  the  Lord  with  the  beauty  of  the 
olive  tree,  which  consists  in  its  frultfulness. 

I  call  your  attention  very  earnestly  to  three  matters. 
First,  here  is  a  special  case  dealt  with:  **If  any  of  you 
do  err  from  the  truth,  and  one  convert  him."  While 
speaking  of  that  special  case,  the  apostle  declares  a 
ge fie ral  fact:  *  'he  which  converteth  the  sinner  from  the 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL-WINNERS.  299 

error  of  his  way  shall  save  a  soul  from  death,  and  shall 
hide  a  multitude  of  sins."  When  I  have  spoken  of 
these  two  points,  I  mean,  thirdly,  to  make  a  particular 
application  of  the  text — not  at  all  intended  by  the 
apostle,  but  I  believe  abundantly  justified — an  applica- 
tion of  the  text  to  increased  effort  for  the  conversion 
of  children. 

I.  First,  then,  here  is  A  SPECIAL  CASE  DEALT 
WITH.  Read  the  verse,  and  you  will  see  that  it  must 
relate  to  a  backslider  from  the  visible  Church  of  God. 
The  words,  *Tf  any  of  you,"  must  refer  to  a  professed 
Christian.  The  erring  one  had  been  named  by  the 
name  of  Jesus,  and  for  a  while  had  followed  the  truth ; 
but  in  an  evil  hour  he  had  been  betrayed  into  doctrinal 
error,  and  had  erred  from  the  truth.  It  was  not  mere- 
ly that  he  fell  into  a  mistake  upon  some  lesser  mat- 
ter, which  might  be  compared  to  the  fringe  of  the 
gospel,  but  he  erred  in  some  vital  doctrine,  he  departed 
from  the  faith  in  its  fundamentals.  There  are  some 
truths  which  must  be  believed;  they  are  essential  to 
salvation,  and  if  not  heartily  accepted,  the  soul  will 
be  ruined.  This  man  had  been  professedly  orthodox, 
but  he  turned  aside  from  the  truth  on  an  essential 
point.  Now,  in  those  days,  the  saints  did  not  say,  as 
the  sham  saints  do  now,  "We  must  be  largely  charit- 
able, and  leave  this  brother  to  his  own  opinion;  he 
sees  truth  from  a  different  standpoint,  and  has  a  rather 
different  way  of  putting  it,  but  his  opinions  are  as 
good  as  our  own,  and  we  must  not  say  that  he  is  in 
error."  That  is  at  present  the  fashionable  way  of 
trifling  with  divine  truth,  and  making  things  pleasant 
all  round.  Thus  the  gospel  is  debased,  and  "another 
gospel"  propagated. 

I    should   like   to    ask    modern    broad    churchmen 
whether  there  is  any  doctrine  of  any  sort  for  which 


300  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

it  would  be  worth  a  man's  while  to  burn  or  to  lie  in 
prison.  I  do  not  beUeve  they  could  give  me  an  an- 
swer, for  if  their  latitudinarianism  be  correct,  the  mar- 
tyrs were  fools  of  the  first  magnitude.  From  what  I 
see  of  their  writings  and  their  teachings,  it  appears  to 
me  that  the  modern  thinkers  treat  the  whole  compass 
of  revealed  truth  with  entire  indifference ;  and,  though 
perhaps  they  may  feel  sorry  that  wilder  spirits  should  go 
too  far  in  free  thinking,  and  though  they  had  rather 
they  would  be  more  moderate,  yet,  upon  the  whole, 
so  large  is  their  liberality  that  they  are  not  sure  enough 
of  anything  to  be  able  to  condemn  the  reverse  of  it 
as  a  deadly  error.  To  them  black  and  white  are  terms 
which  may  be  applied  to  the  same  colour,  as  you  view  it 
from  different  standpoints.  Yea  and  nay  are  equally 
true  in  their  esteem.  Their  theology  shifts  like  the 
Goodwin  Sands,  and  they  regard  all  firmness  as  so 
much  bigotry.  Errors  and  truths  are  equally  com- 
prehensible within  the  circle  of  their  charity.  It  was 
not  in  this  way  that  the  apostles  regarded  error.  They 
did  not  prescribe  large-hearted  charity  towards  false- 
hood, or  hold  up  the  errorist  as  a  man  of  deep  thought, 
whose  views  were  "refreshingly  original";  far  less  did 
they  utter  some  wicked  nonsense  about  the  probability 
of  there  living  more  faith  in  honest  doubt  than  in  half 
the  creeds.  They  did  not  believe  In  justification  by 
doubting,  as  our  neologians  do;  they  set  about  the 
conversion  of  the  erring  brother;  they  treated  him 
as  a  person  who  needed  conversion;  and  viewed  him 
as  a  man  who,  if  he  were  not  converted,  would  suffer 
the  death  of  his  soul,  and  be  covered  with  a  multitude 
of  sins.  They  were  not  such  easy-going  people  as  our 
cultured  friends  of  the  school  of  "modern  thought," 
who  have  learned  at  last  that  the  Deity  of  Christ  may 
be  denied,  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ignored,  the 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL-WINNERS.  301 

inspiration  of  Scripture  rejected,  tlie  atonement  disbe- 
lieved, and  regeneration  dir^pensed  with,  and  yet  the 
man  who  does  all  this  may  be  as  good  a  Christian  as 
the  most  devout  believer!  O  God,  deliver  us  from  this 
deceitful  infidelity,  which,  while  it  does  damage  to  the 
erring  man,  and  often  prevents  his  being  reclaimed, 
does  yet  more  mischief  to  our  own  hearts  by  teaching 
us  that  truth  is  unimportant,  and  falsehood  a  trifle,  and 
so  destroys  our  allegiance  to  the  God  of  truth,  and 
makes  us  traitors  instead  of  loyal  subjects  to  the  King 
of  kings! 

It  appears  from  our  text  that  this  man,  having  erred 
from  the  truth,  followed  the  natural  logical  conse- 
quence of  doctrinal  error,  and  he  erreth  in  his  life  os 
well;  for  the  twentieth  verse,  which  must  of  coursj 
be  read  in  connection  with  the  nineteenth,  speaks  of 
him  as  "a  sinner  converted  from  the  error  of  his  way." 
His  way  went  wrong  after  his  thought  had  gone  wrong. 
You  cannot  deviate  from  truth  without,  ere  long,  in 
some  measure,  at  any  rate,  deviating  from  practical 
righteousness.  This  man  had  erred  from  right  acting 
because  he  had  erred  from  right  believing.  Suppose 
a  man  shall  imbibe  a  doctrine  which  leads  him  to  think 
little  of  Christ,  he  will  soon  have  little  faith  in  Him, 
and  become  litde  obedient  to  Him,  and  so  will  wander 
into  self-righteousness  or  licentiousness.  Let  him  think 
lightly  of  the  punishment  of  sin,  it  is  natural  that  he 
will  commit  sin  with  less  compunction,  and  burst 
through  all  restraints.  Let  him  deny  the  need  of  the 
atonement,  and  the  same  result  will  follow  if  he  acts  out 
his  belief.  Every  error  has  its  own  outgrowth,  as  all 
decay  has  its  appropriate  fungus.  It  is  in  vain  for  us 
to  imagine  that  holiness  will  be  as  readily  produced 
from  erroneous  as  from  truthful  doctrine.  Do  men  gath- 
er grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles?    The  facts  of 


302  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

history  prove  the  contrar}^  When  truth  is  dominant, 
morahty  and  hoHness  are  abundant;  but  when  error 
comes  to  the  front,  godly  living  retreats  in  shame. 

The  point  aimed  at  with  regard  to  this  sinner  in 
thought  and  deed  was  his  co7iversion — the  turning  of 
him  round,  the  bringing  him  to  right  thinking  and  to 
right  acting.  Alas!  I  fear  many  professed  Christians 
do  not  look  upon  backsHders  in  this  light,  neither  do 
they  regard  them  as  hopeful  subjects  for  conversion.  I 
have  known  a  person  who  has  erred,  hunted  down  like 
a  wolf.  He  was  wrong  to  some  degree,  but  that  wrong 
has  been  aggravated  and  dwelt  upon  until  the  man  has 
been  worried  into  defiance;  the  fault  has  been  ex- 
aggerated into  a  double  wrong  by  ferocious  attacks 
upon  it.  The  manhood  of  the  man  has  taken  sides  with 
his  error  because  he  has  been  so  severely  handled.  The 
man  has  been  compelled,  sinfully  I  admit,  to  take  up  an 
extreme  position,  and  to  go  further  into  mischief,  be- 
cause he  could  not  brook  being  denounced  instead  of 
being  reasoned  with.  And  when  a  man  has  been  blame- 
worthy in  his  life,  it  will  often  happen  that  his  fault  has 
been  blazed  abroad,  retailed  from  mouth  to  mouth,  and 
magnified,  until  the  poor  erring  one  has  felt  degraded, 
and  having  lost  all  self-respect,  has  given  way  to  far 
more  dreadful  sins.  The  object  of  some  professors 
seems  to  be  to  amputate  the  limb  rather  than  to  heal 
it.  Justice  has  reigned  instead  of  mercy.  Away  with 
him!  He  is  too  foul  to  be  washed,  too  diseased  to 
be  restored.  This  is  not  according  to  the  mind  of 
Christ,  nor  after  the  model  of  apostolic  churches. 

In  the  days  of  James,  if  any  erred  from  the  truth 
and  from  holiness,  there  were  brethren  found  who 
sought  their  recovery,  and  whose  joy  it  was  thus  to 
save  a  soul  from  death,  and  to  hide  a  multitude  of 
sins.    There  is  something  very  significant  in  that  ex- 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL-WINNERS.  303 

pression,  * 'Brethren,  if  any  of  you  do  err  from  the 
truth."  It  is  akin  to  that  other  word,  "Considering 
thygelf,  lest  thou  also  be  tempted,"  and  that  other  ex- 
hortation, "Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take 
heed  lest  he  fall."  He  who  has  erred  was  one  of  your- 
selves, one  who  sat  with  you  at  the  communion  table, 
one  with  whom  you  took  sweet  counsel;  he  has  been 
deceived,  and  by  the  subtlety  of  Satan  he  has  been 
decoyed;  but  do  not  judge  him  harshly;  above  all,  do 
not  leave  him  to  perish  unpitied.  If  he  ever  was  a 
saved  man,  he  is  your  brother  still,  and  it  should  be 
your  business  to  bring  back  the  prodigal,  and  so  to 
make  glad  your  Father's  heart.  Still,  for  all  slips  of 
his,  he  is  one  of  God's  children;  follow  him  up,  and 
do  not  rest  till  you  lead  him  home  again.  And  if  he 
'be  not  a  child  of  God,  if  his  professed  conversion  was  a 
mistake,  or  a  pretence,  if  he  only  made  a  profession, 
but  had  not  the  possession  of  vital  godliness,  yet  still 
follow  him  wnth  sacred  importunity  of  love,  remem- 
bering how^  terrible  will  be  his  doom  for  daring  to  play 
the  hypocrite,  and  to  profane  holy  things  with  his  un- 
hallowed hands.  Weep  over  him  the  more  if  you  feel 
compelled  to  suspect  that  he  has  been  a  wilful  deceiver, 
for  there  is  sevenfold  cause  for  weeping.  If  you  can- 
not resist  the  feeling  that  he  never  was  sincere,  but 
crept  into  the  church  under  cover  of  a  false  profession, 
I  say,  sorrow  over  him  the  more,  for  his  doom  must 
be  the  more  terrible,  and  therefore  the  greater  should 
be  your  commiseration  for  him.  Seek  his  conversion 
still. 

The  text  gives  us  clear  indications  as  to  the  persons 
who  are  to  aim  at  the  conversio?i  of  erring  brethren. 
It  says,  "If  any  of  you  do  err  from  the  truth,  and  one 
convert  him."  One  what?  One  minister?  No,  any 
one  among  the  brethren.    If  the  minister  shall  be  the 


304  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

means  of  the  restoration  of  a  backslider,  he  is  a  happy- 
man,  and  a  good  deed  has  been  done;  but  there  is 
nothing  said  here  concerning  preachers  or  pastors, 
not  even  a  hint  is  given — it  is  left  open  to  any  one 
member  of  the  church;  and  the  plain  inference,  I 
think,  is  this — that  every  church  member,  seeing  his 
brother  err  from  the  truth,  or  err  in  practice,  should 
set  himself,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  this 
business  of  converting  this  special  sinner  from  the 
error  of  his  way.  Look  after  strangers  by  all  means, 
but  neglect  not  your  brethren.  It  is  the  business,  not 
of  certain  officers  appointed  by  the  vote  of  the  church 
thereunto,  but  of  every  member  of  the  body  of  Jesus 
Christ,  to  seek  the  good  of  all  the  other  members. 
Still,  there  are  certain  members  upon  whom  in  any  one 
case  this  may  be  more  imperative.  For  instance,  in 
the  case  of  a  young  believer,  his  father  and  his  mother, 
if  they  be  believers,  are  called  upon  by  a  sevenfold 
obligation  to  seek  the  conversion  of  their  backsliding 
child.  In  the  case  of  a  husband,  none  should  be  so 
earnest  for  his  restoration  as  his  wife,  and  the  same 
rule  holds  good  with  regard  to  the  wife.  So  also  if  the 
connection  be  that  of  friendship,  he  with  whom  you 
have  had  the  most  acquaintance  should  lie  nearest  to 
your  heart;  and  when  you  perceive  that  he  has  gone 
aside,  you  should,  above  all  others,  act  the  shepherd 
towards  him  with  kindly  zeal.  You  are  bound  to  do 
this  to  all  your  fellow-Christians,  but  doubly  bound  to 
do  it  to  those  over  whom  you  possess  an  influence, 
which  has  been  gained  by  former  intimacy,  by  rela- 
tionship, or  by  any  other  means.  I  beseech  you,  there- 
fore, watch  over  one  another  in  the  Lord,  and  when 
ye  see  a  brother  overtaken  in  a  fault,  "ye  which  are 
spiritual,  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meek- 
ness."   Ye  see  your  duty ;  do  not  neglect  it. " 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL-WINNERS.  305 

Brethren,  it  ought  to  cheer  us  to  know  that  the 
attempt  to  convert  a  man  who  has  erred  from  the  truth 
is  a  hopeful  one,  it  is  one  in  which  success  may  be 
looked  for,  and  when  the  success  comes,  it  will  be  of 
the  most  joyful  character.  Verily,  it  is  a  great  joy  to 
capture  the  wild,  w^andering  sinner;  but  the  joy  of 
joys  is  to  find  the  lost  sheep  which  was  once  really  in 
the  fold,  and  has  sadly  gone  astray.  It  is  a  great  thing 
to  transmute  a  piece  of  brass  into  silver,  but  to  the 
poor  woman  it  was  joy  enough  to  find  the  piece  of 
silver  which  was  silver  already,  and  had  the  king's 
stamp  on  it,  though  for  a  while  it  was  lost.  To  bring 
in  a  stranger  and  an  alien,  and  to  adopt  him  as  a  son, 
suggests  a  festival;  but  the  most  joyous  feasting  and 
the  loudest  music  are  for  the  son  who  was  always  a 
son,  but  had  played  the  prodigal,  and  yet  after  being 
lost  was  found,  and  after  being  dead  was  made  alive 
again.  I  say,  ring  the  bells  twice  for  the  reclaimed 
backslider;  ring  them  till  the  steeple  rocks  and  reels. 
Rejoice  doubly  over  that  which  had  gone  astray,  and 
was  ready  to  perish,  but  has  now  been  restored.  John 
was  glad  when  he  found  poor  backsliding  but  weep- 
ing Peter,  who  had  denied  his  ^Master;  he  cheered  and 
comforted  him,  and  consorted  with  him,  till  the  Lord 
Himself  had  said,  "Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou 
Me?"  It  may  not  appear  so  brilliant  a  thing  to  bring 
back  a  backslider  as  to  reclaim  a  harlot  or  a  drunkard, 
but  in  the  sight  of  God  it  is  no  small  miracle  of  grace, 
and  to  the  instrument  who  has  performed  it  it  shall 
yield  no  small  comfort.  Seek  ye,  then,  my  brethren, 
those  who  were  of  us  but  have  gone  from  us;  seek  yc 
those  who  linger  still  in  the  congregation,  but  have 
disgraced  the  church,  and  are  put  away  from  us,  and 
rightlv  so,  because  we  cannot  countenance  their  un- 
clcanness;   seek  them  with  prayers,  and  tears,  and  en- 


30G  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

treaties,  if  peradventiirc  God  may  grant  them  repent- 
ance that  they  may  be  saved. 

Here  I  would  say  to  any  backsHders  who  are  present, 
let  this  text  cheer  you  if  you  have  a  desire  to  turn  to 
God.  Return,  ye  backsliding  children,  for  the  Lord 
has  bidden  His  people  seek  you.  If  He  had  not  cared 
for  you.  He  would  not  have  spoken  of  our  search  after 
you;  but  having  put  it  so,  and  made  it  the  duty  of  all 
His  people  to  seek  those  who  err  from  the  faith,  there 
is  an  open  door  before  you,  and  there  are  hundreds  who 
sit  waiting  like  porters  at  the  gate  to  welcome  you. 
Come  back  to  the  God  whom  you  have  forsaken;  or 
if  you  never  did  know  Him,  oh,  that  this  day  His 
Spirit  may  break  your  hearts,  and  lead  you  to  true 
repentance,  that  you  may  in  real  truth  be  saved !  God 
bless  you,  poor  backsliders!  If  He  do  not  save  you,  a 
multitude  of  sins  will  be  upon  you,  and  you  must  die 
eternally.    God  have  mercy  upon  you,  for  Christ's  sake. 

II.  We  have  opened  up  the  special  case,  and  we 
have  now  to  dwell  upon  a  GENERAL  FACT. 

This  general  fact  is  important,  and  we  are  bound  to 
give  it  special  attention,  since  it  is  prefaced  with  the 
words,  "Let  him  know."  If  any  one  of  you  has  been 
the  means  of  bringing  back  a  backslider,  it  is  said, 
"Let  him  know."  That  is,  let  him  think  of  it,  be  sure 
of  it,  be  comforted  by  it,  be  inspirited  by  it.  "Let  him 
know"  it,  and  never  doubt  it.  Do  not  merely  hear  it, 
beloved  fellow-labourer,  but  let  it  sink  deep  into  your 
heart.  When  an  apostle  inspired  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
says,  "Let  him  know,"  I  conjure  you,  do  not  let  any 
indolence  of  spirit  forbid  your  ascertaining  the  full 
weight  of  the  truth. 

What  is  it  that  you  are  to  know?  To  know  that  he 
who  converteth  a  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way 
shall  save  a  soul  from  death.    This  is  something  worth 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL-WINNERS.  307 

knowing,  is  it  not?  To  save  a  soul  from  death  is 
no  small  matter.  Why,  we  have  men  among  us 
whom  we  honour  every  time  we  cast  our  eyes  upon 
them,  for  they  have  saved  many  precious  lives;  they 
have  manned  the  lifeboat,  or  they  have  plunged  into 
the  river  to  rescue  the  drowning;  they  have  been  ready 
to  risk  their  own  lives  amid  burning  timbers  that  they 
might  snatch  the  perishing  from  the  devouring  flames. 
True  heroes  these,  far  worthier  of  renown  than  your 
blood-stained  men  of  war.  God  bless  the  brave  hearts! 
May  England  never  lack  a  body  of  worthy  men  to 
make  her  shores  illustrious  for  humanity!  When  we 
see  a  fellow-creature  exposed  to  danger,  our  pulse  beats 
quickly,  and  we  are  agitated  with  desire  to  save  him. 
Is  it  not  so? 

But  the  saving  of  a  soul  from  death  is  a  far  greater 
matter.  Let  us  think  what  that  death  is.  It  is  not 
non-existence;  I  do  not  know  that  I  would  lift  a  fin- 
ger to  save  my  fellow-creature  from  mere  non-exist- 
ence. I  see  no  great  hurt  in  annihilation;  certainly 
nothing  that  would  alarm  me  as  a  punishment  for  sin. 
Just  as  I  see  no  great  joy  in  mere  eternal  existence  if 
that  is  all  that  is  meant  by  eternal  life,  so  I  discern  no 
terror  in  ceasing  to  be;  I  would  as  soon  not  be  as  be, 
so  far  as  mere  colourless  being  or  not  being  is  con- 
cerned. But  "eternal  life"  means  in  Scripture  a  very 
different  thing  from  eternal  existence;  it  means  exist- 
ing with  all  the  faculties  developed  in  fulness  of  joy; 
existing  not  as  the  dried  herb  in  the  hay,  but  as  the 
flower  in  all  its  beauty.  "To  die,"  in  Scripture,  and 
indeed  in  common  language,  is  not  to  cease  to  exist. 
Very  wide  is  the  difference  between  the  two  words  to 
die  and  to  be  annihilated.  To  die,  as  to  the  first  death, 
is  the  separation  of  the  body  from  the  soul;  it  is  the 
resolution  of  our  nature  into  its  component  elements; 


308  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

and  to  die  the  second  death,  is  to  separate  the  man, 
soul  and  body,  from  his  God,  who  is  the  hfe  and  joy 
of  our  manhood.  This  is  eternal  destruction  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  and  from  the  glory  of  His  power; 
this  is  to  have  the  palace  of  manhood  destroyed,  and 
turned  into  a  desolate  ruin,  for  the  howling  dragon  of 
remorse,  and  the  hooting  owl  of  despair,  to  inherit 
for  ever. 

The  descriptions  which  Holy  Scripture  gives  of  the 
second  death  are  terrible  to  the  last  degree.  It  speaks 
of  a  ''worm  that  never  dies,"  and  a  "fire  that  never  can 
be  quenched,"  of  ''the  terror  of  the  Lord,"  and  "tear- 
ing in  pieces,"  of  "the  smoke  of  their  torment  which 
goeth  up  for  ever  and  ever,"  and  of  "the  pit  which  hath 
no  bottom."  I  am  not  about  to  bring  all  these  terrible 
things  together,  but  there  are  words  in  Scripture  which, 
if  pondered,  might  make  the  flesh  to  creep,  and  the 
hair  to  stand  on  end,  at  the  very  thought  of  the  judg- 
ment to  come.  Our  joy  is  that  if  any  one  us  are  made, 
in  God's  hands,  the  means  of  converting  a  man  from 
the  error  of  his  way,  we  shall  have  saved  a  soul  from 
this  eternal  death.  That  dreadful  hell  the  saved  one 
will  not  know,  that  wrath  he  will  not  feel,  that  being 
banished  from  the  presence  of  God  will  never  hap- 
pen to  him.  Is  there  not  a  joy  worth  worlds  in  all  this? 
Remember  the  addition  to  the  picture.  If  you  have 
saved  a  soul  from  death,  you  have  introduced  it  into 
eternal  life;  by  God's  good  grace,  there  will  be  an- 
other chorister  amongst  the  white-robed  host  to  sing 
Jehovah's  praise,  another  hand  to  smite  eternally  the 
harp-strings  of  adoring  gratitude,  another  sinner  saved 
to  reward  the  Redeemer  for  his  Passion.  Oh,  the  hap- 
piness of  having  saved  a  soul  from  death! 

And  it  is  added  that,  in  such  a  case,  you  will  have 
covered  a  multitude  of  sins.     We  understand  this  to 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL-WINNERS.  309 

mean  that  the  result  of  the  conversion  of  any  sinner 
will  be  the  covering  up  of  all  his  sins  by  the  atoning 
blood  of  Jesus.  How  many  those  sins  are,  in  any 
case,  none  of  us  can  tell;  but  if  any  man  be  converted 
from  the  error  of  his  way,  the  whole  mass  of  his  sins  will 
be  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea  of  Jesus'  blood,  and  washed 
away  for  ever.  Now  remember  that  your  Saviour  came 
to  this  world  with  two  objects:  He  came  to  destroy 
death,  and  to  put  away  sin.  If  you  convert  a  sinner 
from  the  error  of  his  way,  you  are  made  like  to  Him 
in  both  these  works;  after  your  manner,  in  the  power 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  you  overcome  death,  by  snatching 
a  soul  from  the  second  death,  and  you  also  put  away 
sin  from  the  sight  of  God  by  hiding  a  multitude  of  sins 
beneath  the  propitiation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Do  observe  here  that  the  apostle  offers  no  other 
inducement  to  soul-winners:  he  does  not  say,  "If  you 
convert  a  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way,  you  will 
have  honour."  True  philanthropy  scorns  such  a  mo- 
tive. He  does  not  say,  "If  you  convert  a  sinner  from 
the  error  of  his  way,  you  will  have  the  respect  of  the 
church,  and  the  love  of  the  individual."  Such  will  be 
the- case,  but  we  are  moved  by  far  nobler  motives.  The 
joy  of  doing  good  is  found  in  the  good  itself;  the 
reward  of  a  deed  of  love  is  found  in  its  own  result.  If 
we  have  saved  a  soul  from  death,  and  hidden  a  mul- 
titude of  sins,  that  is  payment  enough,  though  no  ear 
should  ever  hear  of  the  deed,  and  no  pen  should  ever 
record  it.  Let  it  be  forgotten  that  we  were  the  instru- 
ments if  good  be  but  effected;  it  shall  give  us  joy  even 
if  we  be  not  appreciated,  and  are  left  in  the  cold  shade 
of  forgetfulness.  Yea,  if  others  wear  the  honours  of 
the  good  deed  which  the  Lord  has  wrought  by  us,  we 
will  not  murmur,  it  shall  be  joy  enough  to  know  that 
a  soul  has  been  saved  from  death,  and  a  multitude  of 
sins  has  been  covered. 


310  THE  SOUL- WINNER. 

And,  dear  brethren,  let  us  recollect  that  the  saving 
of  souls  from  death  honours  Jesus,  for  there  is  no 
saving  souls  except  through  His  blood.  As  for  you 
and  for  me,  what  can  we  do  in  saving  a  soul  from 
death?  Of  ourselves  nothing,  any  more  than  that  pen 
which  lies  upon  the  table  could  write  ''The  Pilgrim's 
Progress;"  yet  let  a  Bunyan  grasp  the  pen,  and  the 
matchless  work  is  written.  So  you  and  I  can  do  noth- 
ing to  convert  souls  till  God's  eternal  Spirit  takes  us 
in  hand;  but  then  He  can  do  wonders  by  us,  and  get 
to  Himself  glory  by  us,  while  it  shall  be  joy  enough 
for  us  to  know  that  Jesus  is  honoured,  and  the  Spirit 
magnified.  Nobody  talks  of  Homer's  pen,  no  one  has 
encased  it  in  gold,  or  published  its  illustrious  achieve- 
ments; nor  do  we  wish  for  honour  among  men:  it 
will  be  enough  for  us  to  have  been  the  pen  in  the 
Saviour's  hand  with  which  He  has  written  the  covenant 
of  His  grace  upon  the  fleshy  tablets  of  human  hearts. 
This  is  golden  wages  for  a  man  who  really  loves  his 
Master;  Jesus  is  glorified,  sinners  are  saved. 

Now  I  want  you  to  notice  particularly  that  all  that 
is  said  by  the  apostle  here  is  about  the  conversion  of 
one  person.  "If  any  of  you  do  err  from  the  truth,  and 
one  convert  him,  let  him  know  that  he  which  con- 
verteth  the  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way  shall  save 
a  soul  from  death. "  Have  you  never  wished  you  were 
a  Whitefield?  Have  you  never  felt,  young  man,  in 
your  inmost  soul,  great  aspirations  to  be  another 
]\IcCheyne,  or  Brainerd,  or  MofYat?  Cultivate  the  aspi- 
ration, but  at  the  same  time  be  happy  to  bring  one 
sinner  to  Jesus  Christ,  for  he  who  converts  only  one 
is  bidden  to  know  that  no  mean  thing  has  been  done ; 
for  he  has  saved  a  soul  from  death,  and  covered  a  mul- 
titude of  sins. 

And  it  does  not  say  anything  about  the  person  who 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL-WINNERS.  311 

is  the  means  of  this  work.  It  is  not  said,  "If  a  min- 
ister shall  convert  a  man,  or  if  some  noted  elocjuent 
divine  shall  have  wrought  it."  If  this  deed  shall  be 
performed  by  the  least  babe  in  our  Israel,  if  a  little 
child  shall  tell  the  tale  of  Jesus  to  its  father,  if  a  ser- 
vant girl  shall  drop  a  tract  where  some  one  poor  soul 
shall  find  it  and  receive  salvation,  if  the  humblest 
preacher  at  the  street  corner  shall  have  spoken  to  the 
thief  or  to  the  harlot,  and  such  shall  be  saved,  let  him 
know  that  he  that  turncth  any  sinner  from  the  error  of 
his  way,  whoever  he  may  be,  hath  saved  a  soul  from 
death,  and  covered  a  multitude  of  sins. 

Now,  beloved,  what  comes  out  of  this  but  these 
suggestions?  Let  us  long  to  be  used  in  the  conversion 
of  sinners.  James  does  not  speak  concerning  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  this  passage,  nor  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
for  he  w-as  writing  to  those  who  would  not  fail  to 
remember  the  important  truths  which  concern  both 
the  Spirit  and  the  Son  of  God ;  but  yet  it  may  be  meet 
here  to  remind  you  that  we  cannot  do  spiritual  good 
to  our  fellow-creatures  apart  from  the  Spirit  of  God, 
neither  can  we  be  blessed  to  them  if  we  do  not  preach 
to  them  "Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified."  God  must 
use  us;  but,  oh,  let  us  long  to  be  used,  pray  to  be 
used,  and  pine  to  be  used!  Dear  brethren  and  sis- 
ters, let  us  purge  ourselves  of  everything  that  would 
prevent  our  being  employed  by  the  Lord.  If  there  is 
anything  we  are  doing,  or  leaving  undone,  any  evil 
we  are  harbouring,  or  any  grace  we  are  neglecting, 
which  may  make  us  unfit  to  be  used  of  God,  let  us 
pray  the  Lord  to  cleanse,  and  mend,  and  scour  us,  till 
we  are  vessels  fit  for  the  blaster's  use.  Then  let  us 
be  on  the  watch  for  opportunities  of  usefulness;  let 
us  go  about  the  world  with  our  ears  and  our  eyes 
open,  ready  to  avail  ourselves  of  every  occasion  for 


312  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

doing  good;  let  us  not  be  content  till  we  are  useful, 
but  make  this  the  main  desire  and  ambition  of  our 
lives.  Somehow  or  other,  we  must  and  will  bring  souls 
to  Jesus  Christ.  As  Rachel  cried,  "Give  me  children, 
or  I  die,"  so  may  none  of  you  be  content  to  be  bar- 
ren in  the  household  of  God.  Cry  and  sigh  until  you 
have  snatched  some  brand  from  the  burning,  and  have 
brought  at  least  one  sinner  to  Jesus  Christ,  that  so  you 
also  may  have  saved  a  soul  from  death,  and  covered 
a  multitude  of  sins. 

III.  And,  now,  let  us  turn  for  a  few  minutes  only 
to  the  point  which  is  not  in  the  text.  I  want  to  make 
A  PARTICULAR  APPLICATION  of  this  whole 
subject  to  the  conversion  of  children. 

Beloved  friends,  I  hope  you  do  not  altogether  forget 
the  Sabbath-school,  and  yet  I  am  afraid  a  great  many 
Christians  are  scarcely  aware  that  there  are  such  things 
as  Sabbath-schools  at  all;  they  know  it  by  hearsay, 
but  not  by  observation.  Probably,  in  the  course  of 
twenty  years,  they  have  never  visited  the  school,  nor 
concerned  themselves  about  it.  They  would  be  grati- 
fied to  hear  of  any  success  accomplished,  but  though 
they  may  not  have  heard  anything  about  the  matter 
one  way  or  the  other,  they  are  well  content.  In  most 
churches,  you  will  find  a  band  of  young  and  ardent 
spirits  giving  themselves  to  Sunday-school  work;  but 
there  are  numbers  of  others  who  might  greatly 
strengthen  the  school  who  never  attempt  anything  of 
the  sort.  In  this  they  might  be  excused  if  they  had 
other  work  to  do;  but,  unfortunately,  they  have  no 
godly  occupation,  but  are  mere  killers  of  time,  while 
this  work  which  lies  ready  to  hand,  and  is  accessible, 
and  demands  their  assistance,  is  entirely  neglected.  I 
will  not  say  there  are  any  such  sluggards  here,  but  I 
am  not  able  to  believe  that  we  are  quite  free  from  them. 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL-WINNERS.  313 

aiid  therefore  I  will  ask  conscience  to  do  its  work 
with  the  guilty  parties. 

Children  need  to  be  saved;  children  may  be  saved; 
children  are  to  be  saved  by  instrumentality.  Children 
may  be  saved  while  they  are  children.  He  who  said, 
"Suffer  the  litde  children  to  come  unto  Me,  and  for- 
bid them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven," 
never  intended  that  His  Church  should  say,  "We  will 
look  after  tlie  children  by-and-by  when  they  have  grown 
up  to  be  young  men  and  v/omen."  He  intended  that 
it  should  be  a  subject  of  prayer  and  earnest  endeavour 
that  children  as  children  should  be  converted  to  God. 

The  conversion  of  a  child  involves  tlie  same  work 
of  divine  grace,  and  results  in  the  same  blessed  con- 
sequences as  the  conversion  of  the  adult.  There  is 
the  saving  of  the  soul  from  death  in  the  child's  case, 
and  the  hiding  of  a  multitude  of  sins,  but  there  is  this 
additional  matter  for  joy,  that  a  great  preventive  work 
is  done  when  the  young  are  converted.  Conversion 
saves  a  child  from  a  multitude  of  sins.  If  God's  eternal 
mercy  shall  bless  your  teaching  to  a  little  prattler,  how 
happy  that  boy's  life  will  be  compared  with  what  it 
might  have  been  if  he  had  grown  up  in  folly,  sin, 
and  shame,  and  had  only  been  converted  after  many 
days!  It  is  the  highest  wisdom  and  the  truest  prudence 
to  pray  for  our  children  that,  w'hile  they  are  yet  young, 
their  hearts  may  be  given  to  the  Saviour. 

"  'Twill  save  them  from  a  thousand  snares, 
To  mind  religion  young; 
Grace  will  preserve  their  following  years. 
And  make  their  virtues  strong." 

To  reclaim  the  prodigal  is  well,  but  to  save  him  from 
ever  being  a  prodigal  is  better.  To  bring  back  the 
thief  and  the  drunkard  is  a  praiseworthy  action,  but 


314  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

SO  to  act  that  the  boy  shall  never  become  a  thief  or  a 
drunkard  is  far  better;  hence  Sabbath-school  instruc- 
tion stands  very  high  in  the  list  of  philanthropic  enter- 
prises, and  Christians  ought  to  be  most  earnest  in  it. 
He  who  converts  a  child  from  the  error  of  his  way, 
prevents  as  well  as  covers  a  multitude  of  sins. 

Moreover,  this  gives  the  Church  the  hope  of  being 
furnished  with  the  best  of  men  and  women.  The 
Church's  Samuels  and  Solomons  are  made  wise  in 
their  youth;  David  and  Josiah  were  tender  of  heart 
when  they  were  tender  in  years.  Read  the  lives  of 
the  most  eminent  ministers,  and  you  shall  usually  find 
that  their  Christian  history  began  early.  Though  it  is 
not  absolutely  needful,  yet  it  is  highly  propitious  to 
the  growth  of  a  well-developed  Christian  character, 
that  its  foundation  should  be  laid  on  the  basis  of  youth- 
ful piety.  I  do  not  expect  to  see  the  Churches  of  Jesus 
Christ  ordinarily  built  up  by  those  who  have  through 
life  lived  in  sin,  but  by  the  bringing  up  in  their  midst, 
in  the  fear  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  young  men 
and  women  who  become  pillars  in  the  house  of  our 
God.  If  we  want  strong  Christians,  we  must  look  to 
those  who  were  Christians  in  their  youth.  Trees  must 
be  planted  in  the  courts  of  the  Lord  while  they  are 
yet  young  if  they  are  to  live  long  and  to  flourish  well. 

And,  brethren,  I  feel  that  the  work  of  teaching  the 
young  has  at  this  time  an  importance  superior  to  any 
which  it  ever  had  before,  for  at  this  time  there  are 
abroad  those  who  are  creeping  into  our  houses,  and 
deluding  men  and  women  with  their  false  doctrine. 
Let  the  Sunday-school  teachers  of  England  teach  the 
children  well.  Let  them  not  merely  occupy  their  time 
with  pious  phrases,  but  teach  them  the  whole  gospel 
and  the  doctrines  of  grace  intelligently,  and  let  them 
pray  over  the  children,  and  never  be  satisfied  unless 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL-WINNERS.  315 

the  children  are  turned  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
added  to  the  Church,  and  then  1  shall  not  be  afraid  of 
Popery.  Popish  priests  said  of  old  that  they  could 
have  won  England  back  again  to  Rome,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  catechising  of  the  children.  Wc  have  laid 
aside  catechisms,  I  think  with  too  little  reason;  but, 
at  any  rate,  if  we  do  not  use  godly  catechisms,  we 
must  bring  back  decided,  plain,  simple  teaching,  and 
there  must  be  pleading  and  praying  for  the  immediate 
conversion  of  the  children  unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
The  Spirit  of  God  waits  to  help  us  in  this  effort.  He  is 
with  us  if  w^e  be  with  Plim.  He  is  ready  to  bless  the 
humblest  teacher,  and  even  the  infant  classes  shall  not 
be  without  a  benediction.  He  can  give  us  words  and 
thoughts  suitable  to  our  little  auditory.  He  can  so 
bless  us  that  we  shall  know  how  to  speak  a  word  in 
season  to  the  youthful  ear.  And  oh,  if  it  be  not  so, 
if  teachers  are  not  found,  or,  being  found,  are  unfaith- 
ful, we  shall  see  the  children  that  have  been  in  our 
schools  go  back  into  the  w^orld,  like  their  parents,  hat- 
ing religion  because  of  the  tedium  of  the  hours  spent 
in  the  Sunday-school,  and  we  shall  produce  a  race  of 
infidels,  or  a  generation  of  superstitious  persons:  the 
golden  opportunity  will  be  lost,  and  most  solenni  re- 
sponsibility will  rest  upon  us!  I  pray  the  Church  of 
God  to  think  much  of  the  Sunday-school.  I  beseech 
all  lovers  of  the  nation  to  pray  for  Sunday-schools: 
I  entreat  all  who  love  Jesus  Christ,  and  would  see  His 
kingdom  come,  to  be  very  tender  towards  all  youthful 
people,  and  to  pray  that  their  hearts  may  be  won  to 
Jesus. 

I  have  not  spoken  as  I  should  like  to  speak ;  but  the 
theme  lies  very  near  my  heart.  It  is  one  which  ought 
to  press  heavily  upon  all  our  consciences;  but  I  must 
leave  it.     God  must  lead  your  thoughts  fully  into  it; 


316  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

I  leave  it,  but  not  till  I  have  asked  these  questions: — 
What  have  you  been  doing  for  the  conversion  of  chil- 
dren, each  one  of  you?  What  have  you  done  for  the 
conversion  of  your  own  children?  Are  you  quite  clear 
upon  that  matter?  Do  you  ever  put  your  arms  around 
your  boy's  neck,  and  pray  for  him,  and  with  him? 
Father,  you  will  find  that  such  an  act  will  exercise 
great  influence  over  your  lad.  Mother,  do  you  ever 
talk  to  your  little  daughter  about  Christ,  and  Him  cru- 
cified? Under  God's  hands,  you  may  be  a  spiritual  as 
well  as  a  natural  mother  to  that  well-beloved  child  of 
yours.  What  are  you  doing,  you  who  are  guardians 
and  teachers  of  youth?  Are  you  clear  about  their 
souls?  You  week-day  schoolmasters,  as  well  as  you 
who  labour  on  the  Sabbath,  are  you  doing  all  you 
should  that  your  boys  and  girls  may  be  brought  early 
to  confess  the  Lord?    I  leave  it  with  yourselves. 

You  shall  receive  a  great  reward  if,  when  you  enter 
heaven,  as  I  trust  you  will,  you  shall  find  many  dear 
children  there  to  welcome  you  into  eternal  habitations ; 
it  will  add  another  heaven  to  your  own  heaven,  to 
meet  with  heavenly  beings  who  shall  salute  you  as 
their  teacher  who  brought  them  to  Jesus.  I  would  not 
wish  to  go  to  heaven  alone;— would  you?  I  would 
not  wish  to  have  a  crown  in  heaven  without  a  star  in 
it,  because  no  soul  was  ever  saved  by  my  means; — 
would  you?  There  they  go,  the  sacred  flock  of  blood- 
bought  sheep,  the  great  Shepherd  leads  them;  many 
of  them  are  followed  by  twins,"  and  others  have,  each 
one,  their  lamb;  would  you  like  to  be  a  barren  sheep 
of  the  great  Shepherd's  flock?  The  scene  changes. 
Hearken  to  the  trampings  of  a  great  host.  I  hear 
their  war  music,  my  ears  are  filled  with  their  songs 
of  victory.  The  warriors  are  coming  home,  and  each  one 
is  bringing  his  trophy  on  his  shoulder,  to  the  honour 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SOUL-WINNERS.  317 

of  the  great  Captain.  They  stream  througli  the  giiw 
of  pearl,  they  march  in  triumph  to  the  celestial  Capitol, 
along  the  golden  streets,  and  each  soldier  bears  with 
him  his  own  portion  of  the  spoil.  Will  you  be  there? 
And  being  there,  will  you  march  without  a  trophy, 
and  add  nothing  to  the  pomp  of  the  triumph?  Will 
you  bear  nothing  that  you  have  won  in  battle,  nothing 
which  you  have  ever  taken  for  Jesus  with  your  sword 
and  with  your  bow?  Again,  another  scene  is  before  me. 
I  hear  them  shout  the  "harvest  home,"  and  I  see  the 
reapers  bearing  every  one  his  sheaf.  Some  of  them 
are  bowed  down  with  the  heaps  of  sheaves  which  load 
their  happy  shoulders:  they  went  forth  weeping,  but 
they  have  come  again  rejoicing,  bringing  their  sheaves 
with  them.  Yonder  comes  one  who  bears  but  a  little 
handful,  but  it  is  rich  grain;  he  had  only  a  tiny  plot, 
and  a  little  seed  corn  entrusted  to  him,  yet  it  has  mul- 
tiplied well  according  to  the  rule  of  proportion. 

Will  you  be  there  without  so  much  as  a  solitary  ear? 
Xever  having  ploughed  nor  sown,  and  therefore  never 
having  reaped?  If  so,  every  shout  of  every  reaper 
might  well  strike  a  fresh  pang  into  your  heart  as  you 
remember  that  you  did  not  sow,  and  therefore  could 
not  reap.  If  you  do  not  love  my  Master,  do  not  pro- 
fess to  do  so.  If  He  never  bought  you  with  His  blood, 
do  not  lie  unto  Him,  and  come  unto  His  table,  and 
sav  that  you  are  His  servant;  but  if  His  dear  wounds 
bouglit  you,  give  yourself  to  Him;  and  if  you  love 
Him,  feed  His  sheep  and  feed  His  lambs.  He  stands 
here  unseen  by  my  sight,  but  recognised  by  my  faith, 
He  exhibits  to  you  the  marks  of  the  wounds  upon 
His  hands  and  His  feet,  and  He  says  to  you,  "Peace 
be  unto  you!  As  :My  Father  hath  sent  Me.  even  so 
send  I  you.  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature ;  and  this  know,  that  he  who 


318  THE  SOUL-WINNER. 

converteth  a  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way  shall 
save  a  soul  from  death,  and  shall  hide  a  multitude-  of 
sins."     Good  Master,  help  us  to  serve  Thee!    Amen. 


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No.  3.     Cloth,  gilt  edges 85 

3^. Half  white  vellum,  gilt  edges i  .00 

4.     French  morocco,  seal i  .50 

12.  Best  German  calf,  embossed 2.25 

14.  Best  German  calf,  padded 2.50 

Nos.  4,  12  and  14  are  each  gilt  edges,  round  corners,  boxed. 
"  To  commend  this  work  would  seem  almost  superfluous  ; 
and  yet  to  young:  Christians  who  may  not  know  it,  we  cannot 
refrain  from  saying.  Buy  this  book,  aiid  keep  it  v/ith  j^our  Bible 
for  Constant  .study,  until  you  have  thorouji-hly  mastered,  in  your 
own  experience,  the  '  secret  of  Avhich  it  tells.'  It  will  transform 
the  dark  days  of  your  life,  as  it  has  transformed  those  of  thou- 
sands before  you,  into  days  of  h.eavcnly  light."— 77it'  N-  V, 
Eva  nudist. 

The  Open  Secret;  or,  the  Bible  Explaining  Itself.  A 
Series  of  Practical  Bible  Readings,  gt/i  tlwusaiul.  12 mo, 
cloth 1 .00 

Soul  I^est.                            New  Editions  of  these  popular 
Is  Ood  in  Everything.     Tracts  printed   in  neat  form. 
The  Chariots  of  Ood       i8mo,  paper,  each 10 

Envelope  Series  of  Tracts.  Chapters  from  "The 
Christian's  Secret  of  a  Happy  Life."     Per  dozen,  net. .   .20 


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